Boxing and MMA are the two biggest combat sports on the planet. From martial arts students to casual enthusiasts, both keep pulling in huge audiences, and the numbers are only going up with time. While there’s a lot of overlap between the two, they differ in some key regards. Exhibit A – MMA gloves versus boxing gloves What’s the Difference?.
We could spend a lifetime breaking down what each sport brings to the table – today, we’re focusing on bringing you the main differences between the sports and the equipment they use.
What’s the difference between MMA and boxing?
As the name suggests, boxing is all about using your fists to land punches. Sure, there’s footwork and a high degree of engagement in your upper body. Still, at the end of the day, the goal is to punch your opponent out, or at the very least be the one to land more clean punches.
Mixed martial arts, on the other hand, is a mish-mash of some of the most popular combat sports of all time. Boxing, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu are just the tip of the iceberg, so beyond punches, you can rely on kicks, grapples, and that much more. This makes MMA one of the most unpredictable sports you could invest yourself in.
Naturally, this means that each sport requires a different set of gloves with unique features.
The biggest differences between MMA gloves and boxing gloves?
Closed vs open fingers
Boxing gloves enclose your entire hand, including your fingers and thumbs. Besides offering a defensive function, this keeps fingers partially clenched in a punching position and protects them during impact. Without these features, even throwing a single punch could result in serious injury for the attacker.
MMA, on the other hand, involves grapples, clenches, and even palm strikes. This, coupled with the fact that MMA also incorporates leg attacks, is the reason MMA fingers are left exposed. Ultimately, this design feature offers a higher range of motion and enhanced dexterity in key moments.
Padding
As mentioned above, protecting the hands is one of the primary functions of boxing gloves. For this reason, they feature more padding which cushions the pain while striking. This further allows you to hit harder without worrying about damaging your hand. Finally, the padding assists in using your hands to block incoming attacks.
Then there are MMA gloves, which have less padding, although this does make it denser. What this means is increased mobility and an easier time executing effective grapples. The reduced protection incentivizes the use of all kinds of attacks that may or may not involve the hands at all.
Weight
On the topic of padding, it’s also one of the main reasons boxing gloves weigh more than their MMA counterparts. This gives mixed martial arts fighters the room to get creative with their offence and defence, taking advantage of their superior dexterity.
Hand wrapping
This is one of the most overlooked differences between MMA gloves and boxing gloves, although it makes a big difference. Although boxing gloves should fit snugly, there’s enough room to bandage your hands – this serves to absorb some extra impact and retain some moisture during training and competitive fighting alike.
Using wrapping on MMA gloves would take away from the sport’s key feature, which is offering the best possible speed and range of mobility. Also, from a practical standpoint, the relative tightness on a lot of MMA gloves makes it harder to even slot a bandage in there in the first place.
FAQs
Do boxing gloves hit harder than MMA gloves?
Obviously, a lot of it comes down to who’s throwing the punch too, so there’s no definitive answer to this question. That being said, it is widely accepted that boxing gloves have the potential to inflict more damage.
Since contact is a lot more direct when wearing MMA gloves, surface damage tends to be more noticeable, especially when it comes to hits to the face. That said, the bigger size of boxing gloves spreads out the force of the impact, potentially resulting in brain damage in extreme cases. There’s also the fact that boxers tend to be more comfortable throwing hard hits since their hands are more protected.
How do you clean your boxing gloves and MMA gloves?
Although you need to clean your gloves relatively frequently, there are simple and cheap ways of doing it from the comfort of your home. Disinfectant spray, apple cider vinegar, and baking soda all do wonders for maintenance. You can find out more by reading our glove cleaning guide.
What are boxing gloves and MMA made of?
There isn’t really a difference between MMA gloves and boxing gloves in terms of material. They both tend to be made of leather, whether natural or PU (synthetic). Overall, synthetic leather is an affordable option that offers solid quality, especially for training. Gloves made of cowhide are generally accepted to be the most durable, though, which is reflected in their higher price.
What is the ideal weight for boxing gloves and MMA gloves?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this since the two types of gloves are so different. Also, it all depends on your own weight and hand circumference. In professional competitive circuits, boxing gloves can weigh from 8 to 10 ounces (220 to 280 grams). Professional MMA gloves tend to weigh around 4 ounces (110 grams) for actual fights, and 6 to 8 ounces (170 to 230 grams) for training sessions.
Outside competitive circuits, boxing gloves can weigh significantly more. Higher-weight boxers can use boxing gloves weighing anywhere from 16 to 20 ounces. For a more thorough explanation, you can consult our boxing glove size and weight guide.
Getting into boxing vs getting into MMA
If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re still considering dipping your toes in the world of combat sports. Or maybe you’ve started training one and are interested in pivoting to the other? Here are some things you may want to consider:
Bodily proportions
Everyone’s body is different, so depending on your features, you may thrive better in some sports over others. For instance, shorter arms may not play as big of a role in MMA as they do in boxing. After all, the latter allows you to attack with more than just your hands, leaving you plenty of room to develop your own style.
Groundwork
MMA involves a lot of rolling and tumbling, so a lot of the action takes place with fighters on the floor. At this stage, grappling and more technical strikes start to come into play. If this isn’t something you’re comfortable with, you may find boxing to be a more streamlined sport to start with.
Whatever the case, remember that a lot of what you learn as a boxer carries over into MMA, so you can always make the switch if you feel so inclined.
Real-world use
If you want to get into combat sports for self-defence, you’re definitely not alone. Needless to say, both boxing and MMA can teach you to put up a good fight if it comes to that. That being said, in streetfights and other unpleasant situations, rules and principles tend to go out the window.
In that sense, MMA will teach you a wider variety of offensive and defensive techniques that can turn the tide of a fight in your favour. Even a non-trained fighter with more stamina or endurance may find a way to outmanoeuvre you, at which point the versatility of MMA could come in handy.
Danger
You may want to get into a sport that’s less likely to result in severe, permanent injuries, and that’s perfectly understandable. While there’s lots of variance from person to person, studies show that boxers are statistically less likely to sustain an injury, but they tend to get hurt more when they do. Ultimately, it’s up to you to do a risk assessment and make an informed choice.
Of course, all of this assumes you even want to go professional to begin with. If you’re looking to get into training out of pure passion for the sport, finding a good gym and instructors goes a long way in bringing risk levels down to a minimum.
Conclusion
That concludes our guide on the key differences between MMA gloves and boxing gloves. Overall, while the two sports do have some common characteristics, they differ significantly in terms of technique, equipment, and ruleset.
The right gear won’t just protect you—it’ll elevate your performance. From gloves with better feedback to gis that allow for superior movement, our guides show you what the pros use. Level up your gear with our buyer’s guides.