Old UFC gloves to be used at UFC 309

The UFC made a huge announcement when they changed the gloves being used by the fighters inside of the cage, highlighting all of the changes that were made to the new style of glove.  For reasons that have not been explained however, UFC 309 will revert back to the old MMA glove style.

Speaking to the media, Jon Jones revealed he was relieved when he received a phone call from Hunter Campbell telling him that for his Heavyweight World Championship fight in New York as the main event of UFC 309 that the promotion would be returning to the old gloves.  Jones stated that the fit was uncomfortable and that he was worried about wearing them ahead of his return to the UFC.

The new gloves have been used during every UFC event since June 1st claiming they are better constructed, fit the athletes better and are made of mre premium material.  The promotion claimed that the changes would prevent eye pokes and the risk of athletes breaking their hands.  Statistics by MMA Junkie reporter Mike Bohn show that there has been a decrease in to 22.9% which is about a 10% decrease over the old gloves when calculating 2021 to the mid year change of 2024

In an interesting footnote the NYSAC already approved the new gloves for use, meaning that after receiving approval they promotion elected to go back to the old design. Do you think Jon Jones was a reason that the UFC is not using the new glove designs? In the sport of Boxing fighters are allowed to compete in their own gloves provided they are approved, do you think the sport of MMA should have similar rules allowing fighters to select what gloves they wear fight night?

Cyborg who recently won the PFL Championship by defeating Larissa Pacheco over the course of a 5 round fight competed in a new style of glove and had this to say about her own experience, “I enjoyed the old Bellator MMA glove design much more than the new style of glove. I found them uncomfortable and the material did not feel as supportive as the old design.  If given the option I would have preferred fighting in the older MMA glove designed used during previous Bellator MMA fights.