TOP 10 MMA GLOVES

The right gloves make all the difference for MMA athletes. Whether you’re a super fan learning about the game or a rookie ready to get into the ring, it’s important to know about different MMA gloves and how they work. You wouldn’t want to identify sparring gloves as competition gloves or recommend that someone uses a competition glove as a sparring glove.

A fighter’s gloves provide protection and deliver power. Top MMA gloves aren’t just the gloves that knock out the opponent in the ring--the top MMA gloves include the training gloves that gave the fighter the strength to knock out their opponent. When you watch MMA, you’re only seeing one pair of gloves, but every pro fighter has training and sparring gloves that got them to where they are.

As an amateur fighter, you’ll also need sparring gloves, competition gloves, and gloves for bag work. Some gloves are versatile and can be used for different purposes.

• Competition gloves typically weigh 4 ounces and have minimal padding, putting the fighter’s fists as close to the opponent as possible.
• Training Gloves, also known as bag gloves, grappling gloves, or hybrid gloves, are perfect for training. The finger design prevents injury to allow for harder workouts without sacrificing performance.
• Sparring gloves are the most similar to boxing gloves. They weigh around 7 ounces and have a grip bar for forming a good fist and sending quality punches.

What Makes a Top MMA Glove?

The best MMA gloves are the gloves right for the type of workout. Top MMA athletes all need competition gloves, sparring gloves, and training gloves to maximize their workouts and prevent injuries.

• Top MMA gloves generally use 100% leather, which is higher-quality than the alternative synthetic materials.
• Country of origin matters. The United States and Thailand are great locations for MMA glove manufacturing.
• Great foam padding. Foam pads most MMA gloves, and you want light but durable and strong foam padding. Padding shouldn’t weigh your gloves down but it should protect your money makers.
• Brands like Hayabusa, Venom, Everlast, and Combat Sports are all well known for quality MMA glove production.

Glove Sizing and Weight

Check with your gym and competition on regulations. Some places will require gloves to be under a certain weight.

To size yourself for MMA gloves, you’ll need to measure the circumference of your fingers minus the thumb (index, middle, ring, pinky). Measure around the knuckles. Some gloves also have a wrist size.

Glove weights vary, but usually, competition gloves are the lightest, around 4 ounces, and bag work gloves will come from 10-16 ounces depending on your weight. When choosing MMA gloves always go for quality instead of weight. A high-quality 6-ounce glove will last longer than a low-quality 10-ounce glove.

1. DMB Boxing Elite MMA Training Gloves

DMB Boxing’s Elite mma gloves are great for bag work without breaking your fists. Protect your money makers with extra padding, and great coverage areas! 

The 2” of foam padding will minimize hand injuries and help you train confidently and safely. You can’t train at your best if you're worried about injuries, and you cant be confident in your safety without a properly padded glove.

The comfortable ergonomic fit and hinged knuckle construction keep the glove snug while allowing a great range of motion. The gloves offer perfect wrist support so you can go from octagon to office without feeling it in your typing! Great hand padding. Padding where it counts, not where it hurts.

The wrist strap supports your punches, while the fully open palm allows you to grab and grapple with skin to skin. The DMB Boxing Elite MMA Gloves will make you cool and confident during your training routine, padding you where it counts while keeping you close to your opponents.

Features:

• Offers the best padding and protection in MMA training
• Train with confidence knowing you’ve got the best protection
• Ergonomic fit and hinged knuckles for full movement
• Open palm to get close to the action

2. T3 Kanpeki 4oz MMA Gloves 

While a great fighter will need to fill out their glove armory with a number of different types of gloves, obviously we need to kick off the list with a competition glove. Hayabusa’s T3 Kanpeki 4oz MMA Gloves are as competition ready as they come. They provide ultimate versatility and protection for the professional MMA fighter.

The T3’s are the top of Hayabusa’s celebrated MMA glove line. The gloves are made with 100% premium full-grain leather, the finest material that an MMA glove can be made of. The sleek brown leather styling has a retro James Dean MMA vibe that you didn’t even know that you wanted.

The gloves are ideal for competition and intense sparring, with the reinforced 4oz weight class. The antibacterial fabric keeps your gloves looking and smelling fresh over time. You don’t have to quarantine them to a box in the garage to avoid the smell and bacteria! 

The T3 Kanpecki gloves are the ultimate weapon, built to push limits, allowing you to strike and train longer, harder, and better. 

The “Dual-X” closure system gives you the best hand and wrist stabilization. The closure prevents injuries and helps you punch in confidence. No more gloves coming loose mid-match, and putting doubts about your gear in the back of your mind. 

The wrist support helps you keep punching, reducing wear and tear on wrists. In competition fights, this means you’ll have a little left in the tank for the last minute TKO. 

Features

• 100% premium leather
• Great classic MMA vibes. Punch like an old-timey man with a handlebar mustache.
• Dual-X closure for superior comfort and support

 

3. UFC Official Fight Gloves

Of course, the UFC produces its own MMA Official Fight Gloves. These are the actual gloves worn by the fighters in UFC fights. If you want to get to the Octagon, or simply experience the glove and punching power that the pros do, snag yourself a pair of these bad boys. Perfect for competition and sparring.

The UFC official fight gloves are the only glove approved by the UFC for Octagon MMA fighters. They’re built from 100% genuine leather, for durability and standardized punching power.

The gloves are designed to shape to the knuckles in a curved shape, reducing hand fatigue. They obviously have an open-palm design for grappling, and wrist wraps for extra support. 

The 4oz gloves use advanced gel protection to ensure your knuckles don’t take the brunt of the blows.

Features:

• 4oz officially licensed MMA gloves
• Gel protection for the knuckles
• Open-palm for grappling and holding
• Curved shape to reduce hand strain, wrist wraps for support

4. Everlast’s Pro Style MMA Grappling Gloves

While not great for combat purposes, every MMA fighter is going to need a great pair of practice gloves. Everlast’s Pro Style MMA Grappling Gloves are perfect for training. The low-cost glove will take all the pain and wear and tear without giving out.

Premium synthetic leather creates great durability, while the EverDri technology keeps your hands and the gloves dry for landing punches. Sweaty gloves bounce off your opponent, dry gloves stick and burn!

The wrist strap gives you great support and helps you customize the fit for ideal punch strength. Reinforced palm and split-seam construction make the gloves last longer.

Everlast is a popular brand in boxing gloves, and their MMA grappling gloves are top of the line. The padding is luxurious, making sure you can punch and keep punching. You’ll get all the technical similarities to a combat glove with none of the high cost. Get yourself a pair of these and wear them into the bags you hit.

Features:

• Low cost for effective wear and tear
• Great daily glove
• Comfortable fit
• Perfect for training and grappling

5. Venum’s Undisputed 2.0 MMA Gloves

Venum’s bright orange Undisputed 2.0 MMA Gloves are great for competition. Slap your opponents around in style with Venum’s take on the MMA mitt. 

High-quality Nappa leather gives you incredible support and lasts through the punches. The gloves will keep punching as long as you do! Layered foam provides shock absorption and best in class protection.

The velcro strap system allows you to adjust the gloves with a single hand. Don’t worry about shifting on the fly, the Venum Undisputed 2.0 have you covered.

Venum’s 2.0 gloves are a vast improvement on their previous model, developed to crush the competition--both on the glove market and in the octagon. The gloves conform to your hand for superior punching power and aerodynamics.

These gloves are great for daily training. The padding stays like new even after hours of workouts and the high-quality material holds up over time.

Features:

• Handmade in Thailand
• Single-hand closure system
• Nappa leather for the best in class durability.

6. Hayabusa’s T3 7oz Hybrid Gloves

Returning to the James Dean MMA gloves company, this time we’re looking at their hybrid (training) glove which rounds out any MMA arsenal. The T3 7oz Hybrid Gloves are great for training, offering additional hand protection and a 7oz size. The 7oz size puts them close to the 4oz competition standard glove, but at twice the weight, you’ll feel like you’re swinging with rockets when you put your competition gloves back on.

The T3 7oz Hybrid Gloves combine fitness and MMA. The gloves are built to maximize high-intensity training by offering enough protection to punch a bag and enough comfort to keep them on while you skip rope. An entire workout can be completed while wearing the T3 Hybrids.

For MMA work, the T3 Hybrid’s give enough padding for heavy bag work without making you feel like you accidentally put on a boxing glove. They offer the flexibility of an open palm glove, allowing you to strike and grapple.

The glove is adaptable, fitting to your hand with ease. The hybrid material feels broken in from the minute that you get it.

Hayabusa’s patented dual-x closure ensures that the gloves stay snug during your entire workout, without slipping due to sweat or wear and tear.

Features:

• 7oz hybrid training glove will beef you up without weighing you down.
• Hayabusa’s industry-leading dual-x closure.

7. Hayabusa’s Tokushu Regenesis 4oz MMA Gloves

The final Hayabusa glove on the list is another regulation MMA competition glove. The Tokushu Regenesis 4oz MMA Gloves are designed for fighters looking for a basic glove that won’t get in the way of their chances of victory. The Tokushu Regenesis isn’t quite the Kanpecki’s, but are cheaper and have a great pre-curve. 

The ergonomically-improved pre-curve is 30% improved over similar previous Hayabusa gloves and still features their patented Dual-X wrist closure.

The Tokushu Regenesis feels like punching with concrete fireworks. The gloves are light, clocking in at 4oz, and ready for competition. The black and grey style streamlines your gym outfit.

Features:

• Ergonomically-improved pre-curve
• Dual-X wrist closure for support and comfort
• A classic feel at a great price

 

8. Fairtex Ultimate Combat MMA Gloves - Open Thumb

Superior padding, a ton of color options, and an open thumb design for great comfort. The Fairtex Ultimate Combat MMA Gloves are built for fighter optimized comfort and the delivery of landing blow after blow.

Fingers are split individually at the base to allow dexterity and ventilation. You’ll have no problem sparring, and then picking up your water bottle, unscrewing the top, and hydrating. The split-finger design ventilates your fingers and prevents your hands from overheating like hotcakes. Punch with fists, not warm oven buns!

The long-finger design protects your knuckles while going at an opponent. Why split the skin during sparring? Protect all the vital areas on your hands. Shock absorption comes in three-layer padding which extends all the way to the knuckles.

Leather construction makes the gloves extremely durable, so they won’t wear out just as they become your favorite MMA gloves. A nylon lining makes the gloves water-repellant--or rather, who are we kidding, sweat repellant. Don’t get your opponent’s sweat on your gloves and don’t let your own sweat linger! 

The gloves are handmade in Thailand, known for MMA glove manufacturing.

Features:

• Open thumb and fingers separate at the base for maximum comfort and dexterity.
• Triple-layered padding and long knuckle protection
• Leather and nylon for durability and water-repelling
• Handmade in Thailand

9. Venum "Attack" MMA Gloves

Venum’s Attack MMA Gloves make it look like you just donned skeleton hands to deliver a beatdown to deserving opponents. The white and black color scheme is modern and fast, ready to bring quick strikes that you want from a Venum attack brand. Venum is one of the world leaders in combat sports and fitness activities, and the attack gloves are battle-tested and ready for your gym. 

The premium Skintex leather gives you durability and performance. All the perks of regular leather with the added toughness of synthetic leather.

A foam system absorbs shock, and the velcro wrist strap allows customized fits and adjustments on the fly.

The Venum Attack gloves are one of the few on this list that are appropriate for both combat fighting and some intensity training. The high-density foam gives you protection from powerful impacts, but the 4 oz size makes them great for combat. Each of the fingers and thumb is reinforced for maximum damage absorption.

Venum’s attack gloves were made with the mission that your gloves should both be machines that deliver pain and damage to your opponent and be padded defense mechanisms that reduce pain and stress to your own body. Every punch is calculated to maximize punch power and minimize recoil damage.

Features:

• 4 oz size
• Skintex leather for durability and protection
• Smart layered foam for protection
• Classy, flashy design
• Handcrafted in Thailand

10. Revgear Deluxe Pro MMA Gloves

Some MMA gloves are created for delivering perfect punches to opponents. The Revgear Deluxe Pro MMA Gloves are created so that you never stop delivering punches. Specially designed to decrease hand fatigue through hand wraps and extra padding, the Revgear gloves keep punching long after your opponent has started clinging to the cage.

The Revgear don’t just maximize the durability of the glove, they maximize the durability of your arm-canons. They’re designed for training everyday nonstop, allowing minimum cooldown times in between reps. Your gloves shouldn’t weigh you down, they should speed you up, and the Revgear Deluxe Pro MMA Gloves do just that. 

The gloves feature 7 ounces of gel padding which molds to your hands and absorbs shock from wherever you deliver it. The top of the hand is double padded to put the padding where it counts. 100% Softech™ Leather gives you protection while providing room to wear hand wraps. The soft interior lining helps guard against irritations during long training sessions.

Features:

• The best glove for the longest MMA training sessions
• Provides protection but allows the full range of MMA movements
• Gel-padding molds to your hand and provides protection where it counts.

Conclusion

The best MMA gloves are the best gloves for what you’re doing with them. Keep in mind that every pro fighter has an arsenal of MMA gloves, some for competition and some for training and sparring. Competition gloves are lighter and better for delivering pain, while training and sparring gloves protect you from pain! Train longer and harder by getting different sets of gloves for the right tasks.