“Bones” is happy to have his old eye-poking gloves back.
Jon Jones makes his highly anticipated return to defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight title at UFC 309 this weekend (Sat., Nov. 16, 2024) against former two-time Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, that will take place inside the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Yesterday, UFC 309 athletes were abruptly informed that they would be competing in the old UFC gloves that were replaced at UFC 302 earlier this year. Of course, there were theories that Jones was the one to force this change. He wasn’t.
Jones reacted to the glove replacement today at UFC 309 media day (watch here).
“I’m really excited about the old gloves, Jones said. “I got sent a pair of the new gloves several weeks ago. I tried them on, and they were tight. I used to fit in XL, and in the new gloves, I was a 3 XL. The shape, curving your hands like that – they were very uncomfortable. I was actually really stressed thinking about how am I going to go into fight week wearing these gloves that I don’t even want to train in. So, when I got a phone call recently, Hunter [Campbell] said, ‘Everyone on this card are veterans, why put a bunch of vets in new gloves? Let’s give you guys all what you’re used to’. It was a major relief to my coach Brandon, who wraps my hands, and it was a major relief to me as well.”
“The shape, curving your hands like that.” Ah, so he’s saying he couldn’t straighten his fingers to poke eyes. Understandable, Jones.
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Photo by Patrick Smith/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
As of today (Wed., Nov. 13, 2024), UFC has yet to officially announce why they chose to reverse course and return to their old gloves.
Hopefully, UFC CEO Dana White will have answers during the UFC 309 press conference tomorrow.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 309 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPNews at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 309: “Jones vs. Miocic” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.