The Ongoing Challenge Of 4oz Gloves

It is not a new issue, the 4oz gloves employed under many MMA organizations from the UFC to Bellator all share the issue of eye pokes. This problem has been going on ever since their introduction way back on July 27th, 1997, which was a time when the UFC wanted the sport of MMA to be professional. Ever since, there had been many fights where a fighter had accidentally (or in some cases, intentionally) poked their opponent's eyes that usually disrupts the flow of the fight or can end it altogether. Despite the many years of complaints from fighters and fans alike, there doesn't seem to be a one-fits-all solution regarding the problem.

The number one call is that the UFC redesign the gloves to be akin to Pride FC's gloves. What separates these two gloves apart is that the UFC's design lacks curvature, which leaves the fingers up, which factors in the reason on why there is a lot of eye pokes during fights. Although, there was a rule change dating back in 2017 that forced fighters to either have their fists closed or their fingers pointing to the ceiling. If fingers were to be pointing at their opponent, the ref will step in to remind them to do either of the two. Despite the rule change, eye pokes are still a thing, and that is because regardless, a fighter is not always going to be in the know-how at all times of the positing of their fingers when the action ramps up the pace or grappling become involved.

Now about Pride FC's gloves, they have a curved design that helps to point the fingers downward. Many fans insist that the UFC and Bellator adopt these gloves, to simply take the design and replace the Pride namesake. However, the curved gloves do come with their compromises and they do not absolve the problem. Bottom line, these gloves are fingerless, therefore, eye pokes are going to occur regardless, though at a slightly lower rate. Another possible reason is that there is a compromise in the grappling department, making it harder for wrestlers and Jiu-Jitsu fighters. 

Another obstacle that stands between the big organizations from altering their gloves is legal matters. MMA coach, Trevor Whittman designed a glove of his own, known as ONX gloves, which features a curvature design that keeps the fingers tucked. Sam Alvey, who was coached by Whittman on The Ultimate Fighter praised the ONX gloves after breaking his hands. After putting them on he said he can "punch hard as I can against, like, a brick wall since then". Other fighters have given praise to the gloves such as Aljamain Sterling. But, no amount of push from the fighters can get the UFC, or even, Bellator to adopt the new ONX gloves as Whittman had contacted the UFC about them, who were keen on the idea; however, lawyers wanted to own the patent of the ONX gloves, effectively killing any deal on them.

As unfortunate as that stands, the MMA world may have to put up with the current glove design. The new rule can only do so much about eye pokes, so it's up for the ref and fighters to control the extension of fingers. The ONX gloves can dramatically reduce the chances of such circumstances, though, it may not eliminate it altogether as they are fingerless, but being able to open the hand completely will be much harder under such gloves. Regardless, according to retired fighter, Daniel Cormier when speaking with Ariel Helwani on ESPN, believes there will be issues even with redesigned gloves "A lot of times when you poke eyes, you are trying to grab. If your fingers aren't allowed to open or straighten, I think that you could eliminate some of the eye-poking, but the reality is, there's gonna be issues with gloves being curved if we go forward. My thing is this, you're never gonna find something that works perfectly".

Cormier's statement is true, if the gloves were to be curved there are still going to be issues, possibly even new ones at that. The curved glove design, as stated earlier, may pose a problem for grappling. There is no perfect solution for the matter, only something poses less risk to fighters. If there ever comes a time or day that the UFC, Bellator, or any other organization may get through the legal matter of redesigning the gloves to feature a curvature design then the world of MMA may change and we will see far fewer eye-pokes, meaning that fewer fights to be tarnished from such circumstances.

Let's discuss some notorious instances of eye-pokes:

Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad

This is a recent fight that occurred on March 13th on a Fight Night card. Edwards was dominating the fight having Muhammad wobbled in the opening round. An eye poke occurred during the final minute of the first. Only into the second round, Edwards threw a body kick, his left handheld in the air, fingers open, poking Muhammad in the eye again. The second instance caused Muhammad to fall to canvas, screaming in pain. He complained to the doctor and Herb Dean being unable to see. There was also blood coming out of that eye, and it was later diagnosed as a scratched cornea.

Urijah Faber vs. Jimmie Rivera

This fight happened on the undercard of UFC 203 in Sep. 10th, 2016. Faber was mostly losing the fight to Rivera and did not resemble his prime at all. An eye poke in round three did give some time off in the fight, but it was not dismissed altogether. Eventually, Rivera would win by unanimous decision and handed Faber another disappointing loss in his skid during that time. Despite the win, Rivera complained of the eye poke blinding him for a time being that even after the fight his vision was blurry, and felt it was intentional.

Matt Mitrione vs. Travis Browne

This fight was made back in 2016 on UFC Fight Night 81 in Boston, a heavyweight bout. The fight had a very gruesome outcome as Mitrione was hit with two eye pokes from Browne. The second hit affected his performance and his eye grew into the size of a golf ball, though, the fight wasn't stopped. In the third round, Browne ended up scoring a TKO after mounting Mitrione and ground and pounding him.