Last Saturday, Sean Strickland walked away with an impressive win, a $50,000 bonus, heaps of praise, and a badly injured eye! The close-up shot of Strickland’s eye on Reddit sparked a renewed demand for a change in the design of UFC gloves.
UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland faced off against highly touted German competitor Abus Magomedov in the main event of UFC Vegas 76. Although Strickland started slow and allowed Magomedov to dominate the octagon in the first round, he managed to weather the storm. Unfortunately, Strickland fell for to an inadvertent eye poke while defending against Magomedov’s strikes.
In the second round, Strickland unleashed a ferocious display of skills to ultimately securing a T/KO victory. However, the damage to his eye was already done.
Strickland took to Instagram, sharing a photo of his injured eye with a caption that read: “Does the eyeball grow back? This is a new one”
The photo quickly went viral on Reddit, where MMA fans expressed their concerns regarding the design of UFC gloves. Specifically, they questioned why the glove design hasn’t evolved over time, given the persistently high number of eye pokes in the UFC compared to other MMA organizations.
For example, the shape of UFC combat gloves compels competitors to maintain an open palm rather than a closed hand. Over the last 20 years, the UFC has advanced significantly. But it’s a wonder why the design of its gloves hasn’t changed throughout time!
Even Joe Rogan went in on the criticism of the gloves:
“Trevor [Whitman] makes the best f**kin’ equipment. His MMA gloves should adopted by all organizations,” Rogan said.
“The fact that the UFC and him haven’t come to some sort of an agreement doesn’t make any sense to me.”
UFC faced criticism for their gloves’ failure to address eye pokes. Coach Trevor Wittman’s X-Factor gloves were introduced on Joe Rogan’s podcast, gaining support. Gilbert Burns demonstrated the improved design on a recent episode of UFC countdown, but skepticism remains due to limited media coverage.