MMA Gloves

MMA gloves are small, open-palmed gloves with finger loops, so you can strike and grip in the same exchange. You wear them for pad and bag work, drills and sparring, and the main choice is how much padding you need. UK retailer Budo Online's glove guide sorts them into three types. Fight-style gloves (Budo calls them competition gloves) are 4-4.5oz with minimal padding, hybrids are 6-7oz, and sparring gloves, at 7-8oz, have the most padding. Amateur bouts use heavier gloves than the 4-4.5oz fight style.

Which you need depends on how you train. Budo says competition gloves are not suitable for sparring. It suggests hybrids for bag work, pad work and light sparring, and 7-8oz sparring gloves for contact training. If you only want one pair, it calls a 7oz hybrid the most versatile option. Gyms set their own sparring rules, so check what yours uses before you buy.

When comparing gloves, check what a stated weight refers to: for its Challenger 3.0 sparring glove, Venum gives the weight of the padding rather than of the glove. Check the closure, whether the thumb is attached and how the outer material is described, as makers don't always say whether it is leather or synthetic. Size is separate from weight: Fairtex notes that MMA gloves are usually sized S to XL rather than by ounces.

For amateur bouts, the event supplies or approves the gloves. Under IMMAF's January 2021 amateur rules, only gloves supplied by the event's commission or host regulatory body may be used, with 6-8oz of padding (section 15). You may not bring your own. UWW's amateur rules require identical, approved gloves of at least 7oz (Article 1.3).