Currently, professional fighters wear gloves to protect their hands in combat. In fact, in most states, it’s illegal for them to not wear gloves while in the octagon. But recently, there have been a few debates about whether or not it should be allowed.
The reason why they should be wearing gloves seems fairly obvious as it's an essential part of preventing injuries to a fighter’s hand, allowing them to deliver effective blows to their opponent. It also reduces layoffs between fights and potentially would extend a fighter’s career. Should they retire, their hands would be in good enough condition to perform daily tasks normally.
“Bare-knuckle boxing is safer than using gloves, so why is it widely illegal?” by Tom Joyce from the Washington Examiner argues against wearing gloves in the ring, as gloves encourage fighters to deliver more devastating blows and aim for the head of their opponent, putting their adversary at higher risk for irreversible brain damage. A recent study at Washington State University discovered that “people could generate 27.9 percent more movement when punching a heavy bag with boxing gloves than with their bare first.”. So, in contrast, fighters without gloves are likely to be more prudent with their punches, as hand injuries are more prevalent, thus lowering the risk of brain trauma to the other challenger. Bobby Gunn, a bare-knuckle boxer, compares normal boxing and bare-knuckle boxing, “if regular boxing is checkers, then bare-knuckle boxing is chess because fighters are more methodical and cautious in the ring.”.
Should fighters still wear gloves in the ring, despite studies proving that it can be more dangerous? Perhaps there should be a rule that prevents fighters from aiming for the head? Any thoughts?
I do agree with you that Bare knuckle fighting is a better way to fight, as it does require more technicality to execute moves and leaves us with a safer fight. But even with saying this I Do not believe the UFC should take on this aspect of fighting not because of the fighters, but because of the audience. I know many UFC fans who do not like the idea of a fight without knock outs or a fight that goes on the ground. UFC fighter George St Pierre was hated by many UFC fans simply because he had "boring fights". Even the founder of the BKFC David Feldman threatened to cut fighters pay if they don't show an exciting fight, "This is how we do it at Bare Knuckle, you fight or you don't get paid." Bare Knuckle fighting is a good and pure way of fighting, but unfortunately if it were brought to the UFC, fighters will most likely be pressured to fight dangerously.
ReplyDelete