UFC to Ditch New Gloves Before Jones, Miocic Fight

Ahead of the heavyweight title match between Jon “Bones” Jones and Stipe Miocic at Madison Square Garden, the UFC has moved to get rid of the new ballyhooed gloves that were introduced in the spring of this year. The new gloves prevented eye pokes that would make fighters unable to continue the fight. After six months of usage, the gloves have been scrapped.

The UFC will be returning to its old-school gloves for Saturday’s card. It seems that the change is now permanent, largely because fighters complained about the new gloves. In a recent interview, UFC president, Dana White said, “The new gloves are now the old gloves.”

The new gloves stopped being used after UFC 302, which was in June.

The changes in gloves include seams on the palm side of the hand, right below the fingers, which are designed to minimize scrapes and cuts. New padding was supposed to make it easier for fighters to keep their fingers in a natural position and to potentially minimize any eye pokes that may occur during a match; lastly, the removal of finger binding is intended to reduce any bulk and minimize the seams that might cause scrapes and cuts.

When asked how the other gloves felt he expressed, “The shape, the curve in your hands, they’re very uncomfortable for me. “I was actually really stressed thinking, how am I going to go into fight week wearing these gloves that I don’t even really want to train in?”

In a recent interview while in New York this week, when asked about the glove change, Jon Jones said it was a “relief” to know he would be fighting his championship bout with comfortable gloves.

It will be interesting to see if the glove change allows Jones to be successful in defending his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic on Saturday night.