It sounds like nobody was a fan of the UFC’s new and “improved” gloves.
After being announced in April 2024, the promotion’s 3Eight and 5Eight gloves have been officially abandoned, as announced by play-by-play man John Gooden as Saturday’s fight card in Las Vegas went live.
“One note starting tonight and moving forward, all fighters will return to using the old gloves, not the ones recently introduced,” Gooden confirmed.
The UFC revealed plans to go back to the old gloves in 2025, but that didn’t go into full effect until recently when manufacturing was able to produce enough of the old gloves to be used at all events. Before that, the UFC had been utilizing the old gloves on pay-per-view events, but using the newer design for Fight Night cards.
The new gloves were first used in June at UFC 302. Five months later, their fate was sealed by UFC CEO Dana White.
“Because there were a lot of complaints,” White said about the new gloves in November. “We originally created these gloves to stop eye pokes and we had good intentions with them. They didn’t work out. People weren’t happy with them. So I actually made the decision. Called our chief operating officer Lawrence [Epstein] and said I’m switching the gloves, I want the old gloves back.”
Josh Barnett suggests another glove design for the UFC that’s already been proven to work pretty well
The decision to go back to the old gloves received much fanfare from UFC fighters new and old. Recently, former heavyweight champion Josh Barnett offered his take on the debacle, suggesting that the promotion should look to design a glove similar to the type used in PRIDE.
“Maybe they’ll start on developing a PRIDE styled glove and have something truly top class,” Barnett wrote on X. “Even the standard gloves that they’ve been using for so long have a lot that can be improved. I know when I fought in them I didn’t really like them. The OG Boxergenics glove I felt were better.”
