During the UFC 309 press conference, UFC chief Dana White confirmed that the newly designed gloves launched earlier this year will no longer be in use at this event. Taking it a step further, White then noted these gloves designed by equipment company Dyaco would not be worn going forward. The promotion, effective Saturday, will revert back to the original glove design it has used for years.
Currently heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones complained about the new gloves at media day, stating that they were uncomfortable and required him to go up several sizes. He later expressed relief that the UFC had gone back to the original set. During the presser, The Mac Life asked why the UFC planned on switching back to its previous model at this event.
“Because…there were a lot of complaints about them,” White remarked, “we originally created these gloves to stop eye pokes, and we had good intentions with them. They didn’t work out; people weren’t happy with them. So, I actually made the decision, called our Chief Operating Officer Lawrence [Epstein] and said, ‘we’re switching the gloves. I want the old gloves back.’”
He continued, after responding in the affirmative that this switch is permanent, “The new gloves are now the old gloves.”
The new gloves first appeared at UFC 302 on June 1, with the goal to cut down on eye pokes and potentially reduce cranial trauma with less padding. They also changed the design to put the seam of the glove on a different location, and altered the wrist attachment as well in hopes of preventing inadvertent harm from the gloves themselves.
In a limited sample size of 252 bouts spanning from UFC 302 to UFC Fight Night 247, victorious fighters knocked out their opponent in about 22.6% of their bouts. This percentage is well off the UFC average where roughly 32% of matches end by knockout or technical knockout. In comparison, the first 213 UFC fights in 2024 saw a knockout rate slightly under 32%, while plummeting after the new gloves went into effect. It is unclear if the organization is leaving these gloves behind because of lower finish rates, an uncalculated change in eye pokes or another reason.
