MMA gloves that prevent eye pokes? If you’ve been watching mixed martial arts, you’ve probably noticed when a player hits their opponent in the eye. Sounds painful, right?
If you are wondering how eye pokes affect the fighters and if any UFC gloves can prevent this from happening, then this article is for you.
In addition, if you want to get into the sport yourself and want to find gloves that can avoid this common occurrence, then keep on reading.
We will also discuss what you should look for in a glove, especially regarding this issue.
Eye Poke Problem in MMA
A UFC card on Fight Pass exposed the eye poke problem in MMA. Although the fight was fun, the eye pokes were unintentional, but they also affected the outcome of the match.
While fighters can’t always prevent eye pokes, they can learn to minimize them.
If a fighter hits you in the face and one of your eyes gets injured, it immediately alters their sight and precision ability to hit strikes.
This ultimately can cause them to lose the match, and no one wants that.
The only thing the fighter has to do is take the referee’s offer of an eye poke violation. Then, you need to take a break and let a medic tend to your eye.
Then, get back into the fight once you see clearly again, and your eye doesn’t hurt!
Fighters Affected by Eye Pokes
There is a high rate of eye injuries in mixed martial arts and combat sports, so discussions are underway to manufacture MMA gloves that prevent eye pokes for the fighters.
Injuries can range from a simple poke to a torn eyelid. Ouch, indeed.
Fighters such as Belal Muhammad had taken pokes to the eye during his fight with Leon Edwards. As a result, Daniel Cormier sustained a cornea tear.
On the other hand, another player, Stipe Miocic, had a torn retina after his fight, which required surgery and left him needing glasses.
Problem With the Current UFC Gloves
UFC gloves allow you to open your hands entirely. This encourages the fighters to spread their fingers and poke their opponents in the eye.
UFC double champion Daniel Cormier weighed in on the issue.
In an interview, he commented, “Having curved gloves will help because they allow you to lock your hands and wrestle still…You can still grab, accomplish anything, but it stops the fingers from moving straight.”
A solution to the problem of eye pokes lies in better protective equipment. The current UFC gloves do not provide adequate protection. This makes them a poor choice for the ring.
If eye pokes continue to occur despite the improved gloves, referees must start docking points, disqualifying fighters, and protecting fighters; otherwise, eye pokes will continue to happen.
MMA Gloves That Prevent Eye Pokes
The new style of MMA gloves with a curve is quite helpful in preventing the impact. These new gloves could help you avoid eye pokes while grappling, and they could also improve other aspects of the sport.
The positive side is that there are already gloves that accomplish the trick and have seen success in preventing eye pokes in the past.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the solution is to use curved design gloves. This can prevent the fighters from deliberately or accidentally poking their opponent’s eyes.
