New Gloves Tabled for UFC 309, Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic to Feature Old Design

The UFC has been using a new glove design since June 1.

(via Zuffa LLC)

The fighters competing at UFC 309 this Saturday night won’t be using the new glove design introduced by the promotion in June.

New Gloves Tabled For Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic

After years of calls from both fans and fighters for the UFC to update its iconic gloves, a presentation back in April ahead of UFC 300 unveiled a new glove design that had been field tested during last year's season of Dana White’s Contender Series.

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In addition to being slightly lighter than the old ones, the new gloves were designed to better protect vulnerable parts of a fighter’s hands and also reduce eye pokes, cuts, and the chance of a fighter putting their fingers into an opponent’s gloves during grappling exchanges.

The new design has been used at every UFC event since UFC 302, which took place on June 1 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and saw Islam Makhachev defend his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier in the main event.

Jun 1, 2024; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Islam Makhachev (red gloves) fights Dustin Poirier (blue gloves) during UFC 302 at Prudential Center. / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Ahead of this weekend’s UFC 309 card at Madison Square Garden, Ariel Helwani reports that the promotion has informed fighters that they will be using the old glove design (approved by the NYSAC) at the event.

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No specific reason for the change has been presented since Helwani’s initial report, although many fans have noticed that there’s been an apparent drop in both knockdowns and knockouts at UFC events since the new gloves were first introduced in June.

Jon Jones will defend his heavyweight title for the first time this weekend against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The unexpected change is certainly surprising after the detailed presentation the UFC gave about the new design back in April, and while it’s somewhat fitting that the UFC 309 main event between longtime UFC veterans Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic will be contested in the old gloves it remains to be seen what glove design the promotion plans to use at events going forward.

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