UFC 302 media day took place Wednesday in New Jersey as the anticipated pay-per-view card headlined by a lightweight championship matchup that also features a five-round middleweight co-headliner draws nearer.
One of the co-main event participants, Sean Strickland, is known for being outspoken on any and all topics, so when he was asked by a reporter about the UFC’s new glove design, which the organization will debut this weekend, the former 185-pound champion didn’t hold back when voicing his displeasure.
“They suck,” Strickland said bluntly. “Can we talk to the person who designed these gloves? Have you ever been in a fight in your (expletive) life? It’s like you get these (expletive) dorks that have no idea. Like, ‘this sounds like a good idea,’ and they make it. Same thing with motorcycles. I’ve bought motorcycles and they put so much stupid (expletive) on it. How did you (expletives) think this was a good idea? So no, they absolutely suck. You dropped the ball on that one.”
The intended purpose of the redesign, originally announced in April ahead of UFC 300, was to limit the number of eye pokes that occur during fights and to make competition safer for the athletes overall.
There are two types of gloves UFC athletes will use going forward. They are named the 3Eight and 5Eight, ranging in size from XXXS to XXXXL. The 3Eight and 5Eight gloves are identical apart from colour and graphics.
The 3Eight gloves are black and will be worn by athletes competing in scheduled three-round bouts, while the 5Eight gloves are gold and reserved for athletes involved in five-round matchups.
Earlier in the week, lightweight champion and current No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter on the UFC roster Islam Makhachev, who defends his title Saturday against Dustin Poirier in the main event, told Sport 24 he thinks the new design could result in more lacerations.
“They are very stiff,” Makhachev explained. “They will cause more cuts, as the previous UFC gloves were softer. These are stiffer. They don’t let you fully open your hand just to make sure the fingers don’t extend straight forward.”
Time will tell whether the redesign was effective or negligible.
Strickland faces Paulo Costa on Saturday in his first bout since losing the middleweight title at UFC 297 in January to Dricus Du Plessis. Both Strickland and Costa are high-volume strikers who often get bloodied in their fights.
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