MMA is one of those sports that can be considered the purest form of competition. Every time a fighter steps into a ring, they are ready to put it all on the line, and prepared for the worst. To fight professionally, you need to get through training without injuring yourself first to get into the ring or cage, and for that you need good protective gear.

For anyone that trains in combat sports, gloves are the most important accessories. They serve as protection when attacking, OR defending. Gloves come in different variety depending on the sport. For example, MMA gloves are thinner than Boxing gloves.

Let’s compare:

Padding is your actual shield. If you have heavy padding on the gloves, like boxing gloves, you can insure more area to guard and more shock-absorbency, but those same gloves can also end up causing more damage to your partner than MMA gloves.  They have a larger area of striking so you can fight with full force without fearing injury. You actually don’t need to do grappling in boxing so, the shielded gloves with more padding makes sense.

MMA gloves have smaller padding, meaning they might not protect your hands, will cause cutting, bruising and apparent damage on your sparring partners – BUT – is less (or as dangerous) as boxing gloves when it comes to overall impact. Meaning boxing gloves might actually be more dangerous than MMA gloves due to their size and the speed boxers throw that mass in.

Boxing gloves are created in a way that the hand is sealed in one place whereas, the MMA gloves are mitten in a way that each finger is protected in its own way. The MMA gloves helps the fighter when it comes to grappling. Hence lesser padding.

When it comes to wrist support and overall protection, boxing gloves serve the purpose. When it comes to grappling exchanges or versatility though, MMA gloves would have to be the gear of choice. Therefore, spend money on the right gloves, for the right purpose.