MMA Gloves

Open-palm gloves for grappling and striking — with fingers free to grip.

3 products

Competition gloves vs training gloves

MMA gloves are open-palm with separated fingers so you can grip, clinch and grapple while still throwing punches. That design constraint is why they carry so much less padding than boxing gloves — there is simply less glove. It also means they protect your hands considerably less, and protect the person you hit far less again.

Competition gloves are typically 4 oz and are built to a specification, not to a training use case. They are minimal by design. Training in 4 oz gloves is how people break their hands: on a heavy bag or in sparring, the padding is not adequate for repeated impact. Sparring MMA gloves at 6 oz to 7 oz exist for exactly this reason and are what most gyms require for live work.

Fit needs to be snug. A loose MMA glove rotates on the hand when you grip, which puts your wrist in bad positions during a takedown and makes the padding sit somewhere other than over your knuckles. Most have a hook-and-loop wrist strap; use it properly rather than leaving it slack, and wear short hand wraps or inner gloves underneath for wrist support.

For bag work specifically, many people prefer to switch to boxing gloves rather than wear MMA gloves. There is no rule against bag work in MMA gloves, but the padding compresses quickly and a set of MMA gloves used daily on a bag will be dead long before a comparable boxing glove. Keeping a pair for grappling-integrated work and a heavier pair for volume striking is the cheaper approach over a year.

Frequently asked questions

Are BJJ gloves and MMA gloves the same thing?
People searching "BJJ gloves" or "grappling gloves" almost always want an open-finger glove, which is what MMA gloves are — the fingers stay free so you can grip. Note that most BJJ gyms do not allow gloves at all in standard training; they belong to MMA sparring and striking work rather than to pure grappling.
Can I spar in 4 oz MMA gloves?
You should not. 4 oz is a competition specification with minimal padding. Most gyms require 6–7 oz sparring MMA gloves for live work, and heavier boxing gloves for hard striking rounds.
Do I wear hand wraps under MMA gloves?
Yes — short wraps or inner gloves. There is little padding and little wrist structure in an open-palm glove, so the wrap is doing most of the support work.
Can I use MMA gloves on a heavy bag?
You can, but the thin padding compresses fast and your hands take more impact than they need to. Most people use boxing gloves for volume bag work and keep MMA gloves for grappling-integrated rounds.