Do MMA gloves do more damage than boxing gloves?

One of the questions that Adam and I asked on this weeks podcast was do MMA gloves do more damage than boxing gloves? Does the extra padding on boxing gloves result in less KOs or do MMA fighters just hit harder?

We're looking for your opinions and will be discussing it next time.

I always thought mma gloves were just to protect the knuckles not the opponent.

You should get D4 on to explain why the safest option of all is to wear plaster of paris wraps under gloves.

MMA Fighters don't have chins.

Should liven the debate.

I wouldn't say that MMA fighters hit harder per se at all, as there are obviously a wide range of hitters in all combat sports, varying from devastating to ones, to merely hurtful ones, and then pitter-patter ones. Moreover, of course, punching is a more integral part of boxing than it is MMA. On that basis it probably makes more sense for them to wear the 4 oz gloves as they do, as opposed to the 10 oz upwards which we see in boxing.

I'm not a great MMA fan, so maybe somebody can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe that fully licenced MMA has been death-free since 1993? On the other hand, a cursory glance at a publication such as Boxing News will tell you that, all over the world and at all kinds of different levels, deaths in professional boxing still pop up a small handful of times every year.

It would seem sensible to deduce, to me at least, that MMA gloves would definitely do more damage if they were introduced in to boxing but, as it stands, they don't necessarily do more damage right now within their own sport. As was touched upon in the recent podcast, you also have to consider that MMA fights are scheduled for a maximum of twenty-five minutes, rather than the maximum of thirty-six which we see in boxing.

i thought it was the other way to be honest.

I thought the lighter gloves allowed more 1 punch ko's which in turn were safer for the fighters.

Boxing gloves distribute the impact over more area and allowed boxers to take more damage leading to bigger long term problems.

The reason MMA fighters fall over when they are hit is because the same equal force is delivered in a smaller surface area. A study was done a while back on this on the discovery channel I believe.

I mentioned on the podcast that if Shannon Briggs had been taken punches from Vitali in four ounce gloves he would have been stopped, while the bigger gloves allowed him to suffer what would have been GBH on the street.

I believe you are right, Adam.

Sustained punching to the skull that the brain can deal with is actually worse, or so I hear, than one blow that causes the brain to shut down temporarily, i.e. the fighter gets knocked out.

I think the percentage of punches landed between boxing and mma bouts is worth considering, too. As Chris has said above there is a wider range of 'moves', so to speak, in MMA and as such I'd wager far less punches are landed in your average bout.

hampo171 wrote:I mentioned on the podcast that if Shannon Briggs had been taken punches from Vitali in four ounce gloves he would have been stopped, while the bigger gloves allowed him to suffer what would have been GBH on the street.

The only flipside to that Hampo it is unlikely with 4oz gloves Vitali would have been able to dish out such a beating as the human hands are not particularly made for hitting people in the head with full force. During the bareknuckle era fighters tended to work the body more and be extremely selective in their use of head shots as they could not risk their hands being knackered after 10 minutes was a fight going to last hours. Also most reports of fights that did go a long distance have reports of fighters hands being pretty much useless by the end of the fight.

No reports of deaths in boxing till gloves were introduced. I'm sure i've heard that somewhere.

Rowley wrote:

hampo171 wrote:I mentioned on the podcast that if Shannon Briggs had been taken punches from Vitali in four ounce gloves he would have been stopped, while the bigger gloves allowed him to suffer what would have been GBH on the street.

The only flipside to that Hampo it is unlikely with 4oz gloves Vitali would have been able to dish out such a beating as the human hands are not particularly made for hitting people in the head with full force. During the bareknuckle era fighters tended to work the body more and be extremely selective in their use of head shots as they could not risk their hands being knackered after 10 minutes was a fight going to last hours. Also most reports of fights that did go a long distance have reports of fighters hands being pretty much useless by the end of the fight.

Never looked at like that Rowley and was unaware about that from the bare knuckle era. Puts a different light on what I said to be honest.

ShahenshahG wrote:No reports of deaths in boxing till gloves were introduced. I'm sure i've heard that somewhere.

It is often said shah but am not sure it is correct, Jack Broughton who introduced the first rules in the sport apparently did so on the back of an opponent dying. However given in his era choking, gouging and pretty much everything else was permitted you’d probably be accurate to say a death could not be accredited solely to punches.

Rowley wrote:

hampo171 wrote:I mentioned on the podcast that if Shannon Briggs had been taken punches from Vitali in four ounce gloves he would have been stopped, while the bigger gloves allowed him to suffer what would have been GBH on the street.

The only flipside to that Hampo it is unlikely with 4oz gloves Vitali would have been able to dish out such a beating as the human hands are not particularly made for hitting people in the head with full force. During the bareknuckle era fighters tended to work the body more and be extremely selective in their use of head shots as they could not risk their hands being knackered after 10 minutes was a fight going to last hours. Also most reports of fights that did go a long distance have reports of fighters hands being pretty much useless by the end of the fight.

Didn't Jim Braddock have to learn to fight the other way as one of his hands was broken? Or was that just artistic licence on behalf of the director?

Rowley wrote:

ShahenshahG wrote:No reports of deaths in boxing till gloves were introduced. I'm sure i've heard that somewhere.

It is often said shah but am not sure it is correct, Jack Broughton who introduced the first rules in the sport apparently did so on the back of an opponent dying. However given in his era choking, gouging and pretty much everything else was permitted you’d probably be accurate to say a death could not be accredited solely to punches.

Damn thee stephen fry, the one thing I learned from QI and its wrong!

I can't remember where I heard this or where I read it (It might have been on the old 606).

But this is me trying to explain it...

LONG term, MMA gloves are apparently safer than boxing gloves as they lower the risk of a prolonged assault to the brain. Apparently you are better off being knocked out cold (as it's a quick, short shock to the senses) than being punches with the same FORCE but with extra padding.

There's of course tenuous links to boxing and parkinsons/depression/brain damage that could be contributed to sustrained and continual punches to the head that, if 4oz gloves were being worn may not happen.

I've read that Boxers are more prone to long term damage due to having the ability to get back up and fight, they may not know it, the ref may not know it, but it's possible they have already suffered concussion and are continuing to fight...

You could even make the argument of a guys who's naturally 175lbs cutting down to 159lbs - dehydrated and with no fluid on the brain, at risk of a long term and sustained assault to the head... although I'm no MMA expert I'm pretty certain with 4oz gloves, they are a lot less likely to be standing after 12 rounds.

That said, as bareknuckle boxing ceased to exist professionally since the Queensbury rules were adopted there's little to no MI do the effects of no gloves. The same could be said for MMA as the sport is still in its infancy...

I think another argument/point that could be raised is that, although boxers do not exclusively take punches to the head, the only other place to be punched is the body... an MMA fighter can utilise many other attacks (kicks, wrestling etc) so it's kind of hard to judge the effects to the brain or the safety of the gloves as, from a technical point of view, an MMA fighter may have less chance of taking 200 shots to the head...

It's an interesting one, but I can DEFINATELY see the logic behind "MMA gloves are safer than boxing gloves" due to the prolonging of the damage.

With regards to MMA - can you punch below the waist? Like to the thigh or knee...

ShahenshahG wrote:With regards to MMA - can you punch below the waist? Like to the thigh or knee...

I'm pretty certain I've seen guys do it when they're on the floor. I guess trying it when they're stood up is pretty suicidal though! haha.

Would Depend on position - I saw it in a constructions yard fight once, the guy kicked at him intending to hit him with his shin and this one stepped inside sideways and punched hard down on the thigh. The fight was over there and then although he got a couple punches in to his downed opponent before the foreman stepped in.

Don't care how hard you, are a dead leg hurts.

I've always wondered why MMA fighters dont punch the opponents footwhen stepped out of range of a kick. Would the gloves not mitigate any damage but still cause bones to break in the opponents foot?

Its a tricky one this, because being hit with gloves is weird. When you're hit full on, it hurts but theres no...reaction, its as if your body registers the impact and not the pain. Imagine being hit continuously with a pillow or chinese water torture - same deal. Having your head rocked back yet no pain registering just makes it a prolonged ordeal, because then adrenaline overlays pain.

On the other side, I've hit people and been hit without gloves on, just with wraps on and its quite different, your body takes the pain differently, your brain sends messages to the rest of your body to say "holy smokes, don't let that happen again" and you can be knocked out much easier as your body doesn't want you in that situation.

I'd say we'd have uglier shorter fights without boxing gloves.

I have also heard in many studies that boxing is more harmful due to the prolonged beating as oppossed to MMA which normally results in a quicker ending.

I heavily follow both MMA and boxing and yes you can strike below the waist, obviously not the crown jewels! It can be effective in slowing an opponant down but very unlikely to make them stop an opponant.

The rules are you can't strike the back of the head just like boxing and can also not knee/kick an oppionant in the head if they are on the floor (didn't used to be the case but all the larger organisatiosn follow something called unified rules, made to make it a bit safer and in turn more media friendly).

You can also not elbow someone from the top of the face downwards, called a '12-to-6" strike, the reasoning behind is that it causes cuts easily.

All things being equal, I'd rather take a punch from a boxing glove than an MMA glove, assuming they were thrown with the same force.

However because the MMA gloves don't give as much protection to the puncher I don't believe they do punch as hard as a pure boxer. They can punch as hard but the lesser protection of the gloves plus other more technical aspects of MMA i.e. take a massive swing and miss in an MMA fight and you could put yourself in a bad position for a takedown, means the fighters are more cautious with their punches


I spar regularly in both boxing and MMA and personally the boxing shots are harder as both me and my opponent go a bit harder because the gloves offer more protection to both of us

Of course mma gloves cause more damage. Silly question.

The only way that question can be taken seriously is, if you consider that you will get knocked out quicker with an MMA glove, therefore, owing to the fact that you are sparko on the floor, then you will take less punishment from punches over the course of a fight because you are asleep, as compared to the sustained punishment of a boxing glove.

Less padding = more pain

It's like this.....

What hurts more? Jumping in the air and landing in the prone position on a double divan or a school gym mat?

How many of the well know boxing deaths or serious injuries were caused in fights last a few rounds? Not a scientific measure but here's a few examples.

Michael Watson- Round 12
Gerald Mclellan- Round 10
Benny Paret- Round 12
Johnny Owen- Round 12
Paul Ingle- Round 12
Duk Koo Kim- Round 14

Must be countless examples that disprove that particular theory but found it morbidly interesting nonetheless.

I think the issue pivots around what is the definition of damage.

Is it, getting ko'd quick by a concussive blow from an MMA glove with little padding>

Or, is it the sustained punishment of sub-concussive blows by a boxing glove over a 12 round period.

I'd say the potential for chronic or even acute serious brain injury is more likely in a boxing than an MMA fight, but this is less to do with the gloves and more to do with the nature of the sport.

I would consider it in a neurological sense rather than a physical sense, a broken bone here and there generally isn't going to cause long standing problems in life whereas something like dementia pugilistica will. Damage like that would be caused by repetitive blows to the head thinking of Wilfred Benitez there.

Boxing also focusses on mainly head strikes plus body strikes, whereas with MMA the entire body, barring the groin and back of the head, is a target so there's less focus on just pounding someone's head.

Although I can confirm that leg kicks are horrendous and way sorer than being punched in the face

Mma fighters are rarely knocked out, when they are rocked and defenceless they are set upon and the ref stops it. No 8 count then getting beaten again or tying up to "recover" then taking another beating.

Then again losing isn't a big deal in mma.

Ent wrote:Mma fighters are rarely knocked out, when they are rocked and defenceless they are set upon and the ref stops it. No 8 count then getting beaten again or tying up to "recover" then taking another beating.

Then again losing isn't a big deal in mma.

Clearly somebody who doesn't watch MMA then. There are plenty of ko's in MMA & when a ref stops a defenceless fighter it's a tko just like in boxing, and just like in boxing there are refs who let a fight go on to long. As for tying up an opponent to recover of course they do, one thing they aren't going to do, generally, is stand toe to toe & trade. Admittedly due to the fact there are submissions as a way to win in MMA it gives a fighter another/extra option to win a fight, lessening the amount of ko's.

Obviously losing is a big deal in MMA, losers aren't awarded titles or given winners bonuses, the difference being having a couple of defeats on your record doesn't have the same stigma as in boxing, protecting you 0 is not so important.

I would say that they both cause around equal damage to the brain, but MMA gloves get the fighter out of the danger zone a lot earlier.

there are far more knockouts in mma (i usually watch ufc, bellator, stikeforce etc), remember that there fights normally only go 3 rounds, if they went 12 virtually every fight would end in a stoppage. most come from hands as well, so i have come to the conclusion the glove deal far more damage, 1 punch ko's are common place amongst even the elite fighters, and cuts from jabs happen all the time. as i understand it gloves only protect hands and stop cuts but its evident they also take power away as well.

its hard to get a perfect gauge as mma fighters can jump to the floor or grab hold without been seperated when hurt, but ive never seen a ward gatti type exchange last more than 30 seconds without ending in somebody been ko'd in mma- and id stake my house that had they been using ufc style gloves none of those 3 fights would have gone more than 3 rounds.