Dana White confirms 'permanent' change to how the UFC operates following failed experiment… 'There were good intentions'
11/17/2024 04:03 AM
Five months after their widely celebrated introduction to the sport, the new UFC fight gloves are being retired early; with Dana White confirming that the switch will be made 'permanent' following UFC 309.
The new gloves were meant to reduce eye-pokes but inadvertently resulted in fewer knockouts – don't expect the old design to be making an immediate return, with Dana White also revealing that the promotion has run out of available pairs.
Dana White confirms major UFC U-turn will be made 'permanent' for future events
Earlier this week, headlines were made when the UFC confirmed that the old fight gloves would return for UFC 309, with champion Jon 'Bones' Jones being particularly delighted as he claimed the new design left his hands feeling tight and restrained.
'Bones' would retain his heavyweight title in the main event of the evening with a beautiful spinning back kick to the body, and with the GOAT returning to action, so are the old gloves.
At the post-fight press conference, Dana White confirmed that the promotion will be switching back to the old gloves for good – once they get some more pairs in stock.
"Yeah, it's a permanent move but the problem is that we don't have enough of the old gloves, so until we can get them all done then yeah, that's it."
The gold coloring for championship title fight gloves sadly won't be returning, with White stating that whilst the organization had 'good intentions' at first, it just didn't work out for their athletes.
"You know what, there were good intentions with the new gloves. We spent a lot of time, energy and money on them. There were good intentions, it didn't work out and it is what it is."
Data scientist Nate Latshaw recently revealed the results of his investigation into how the new gloves were impacting UFC fights, with the data suggesting that knockouts had dropped some 10% since their introduction.
A big start to 2025 for the UFC
Just as the UFC 309 main card was getting underway, the UFC was preparing to announce its first look at the upcoming event schedule for Q1 2025.
Across the first three months of the New Year, the promotion will host 11 events – three PPVs and eight Fight Nights that will be hosted on several different continents.
- January 11 – UFC Fight Night, The Apex in Las Vegas
- January 18 – UFC 311, Intuit Dome in Los Angeles
- February 1 – UFC Fight Night, The Venue in Saudi Arabia
- February 8 – UFC 312, Qudos Bank Arena in Australia
- February 15 – UFC Fight Night, The Apex in Las Vegas
- February 22 – UFC Fight Night, To Be Confirmed
- March 1 – UFC Fight Night, The Apex in Las Vegas
- March 8 – UFC 313, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
- March 15 – UFC Fight Night, The Apex in Las Vegas
- March 22 – UFC Fight Night, The O2 in London
- March 29 – UFC Fight Night, To Be Confirmed
A reminder that we still have several major events on the horizon for 2024, with UFC 310 in December having just gotten a new main and co-main event.
