PUFFIES – MMA SPARRING

The MMA training gear has developed a variety of odd names but “Puffies”, aka MMA sparring gloves, hybrids or training gloves, might just be winning the title of weirdest, maybe alongside “Tighties”, aka Vale Tudo Shorts. It’s hard to say when this odd little name twist happened but we’re hearing it more and more.

After the Ultimate Fighting Championship introduced a 4 ounce glove as mandatory in 1997 (UFC 14), it wasn’t long before companies like REVGEAR, were producing a 4oz MMA glove. Training gloves came later. Revgear made their first version circa 2005!

Using boxing gloves in MMA sparring is one solution. However it’s next to impossible to do any form of real clinch work and once a takedown is achieved, removing boxing gloves is a must. Back in the day there was a distinct split in training where stand up, including clinch, was done in boxing gloves. Once there was a take down element to sparring to the floor where 4oz gloves were worn and the power in shots reduced to taps. It wasn’t ideal but it was a solution.

The 7oz glove, 6 or 8oz depending on glove size, changed all that. More and more MMA teams now use the MMA Sparring or MMA Training Glove, or Puffies, as their main glove. In some schools boxing gloves are not employed at all, favoring the more realistic mixed martial arts sparring glove.

If you hit a bag, pad or spar in a 16oz glove, you are at least an inch, probably two, out in your targeting for MMA all of the time”, said Karl Tanswell SBG Manchester.

With the emergence of UAR Rules (Unified Amateur Rules), if you train MMA and are thinking of competing, then a set of Puffies is an absolute must! There are many versions out there now but the REVGEAR MMA Training Glove remains one of the best on the market. The glove has been getting the thumbs up from top fighters for so many years now, we couldn’t even mention them all!