The new UFC gloves are officially gone. Like, forever.
UFC CEO, Dana White, announced the permanent move back in Nov. 2024 in the lead up to UFC 309 in New York City, but the promotion has still been using the newer gloves for Fight Night events. The older gloves have been utilized for pay-per-view (PPV) events only.
The promotion has simply been doing what it can to produce more knockouts.
On Saturday, UFC commentator John Gooden announced at the start of UFC Vegas 102’s broadcast that the promotion is done using the new gloves for all events. This includes UFC Vegas 102, which is being headlined by a middleweight clash between Jared Cannonier and Gregory Rodrigues. You can follow along HERE.
The new gloves were introduced ahead of UFC 300 and will now be officially replaced beginning with #UFCVegas102. pic.twitter.com/rYBl77ijof
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 15, 2025
This change means different things depending who you are. For fight fans, this permanent move back to the older gloves is likely to lead to more knockouts, but also more pesky eye pokes that disrupt even the most important fights. For the fighters, this should lead to a higher knockout rate for those looking to strike, but it will lead to more of the aforementioned eye pokes and leave their hands less protected.
Check out some of the immediate reaction below and let us know what you think of UFC going back to the older gloves for good!
“You should all be thanking Jon Jones.”
“RIP new gloves that did nothing to limit eye pokes.”
“This was made clear early on by a ton of fighters.”
“What a fiasco.”
“Great news! We need more good fights.”
“I was digging the gold ones for the champions.”
“It was fun while it lasted.”
“Yea the new ones were not it.”