Sean Strickland is never shy about sharing his opinion, and the polarizing MMA star let the UFC know precisely what he thinks about its new gloves.
The company announced in April 2023 that a new, state-of-the-art glove design would debut at UFC 302 on June 1 in Newark, New Jersey.
These new gloves promised to decrease the number of cuts caused by the previous design by removing the giant seam protruding from the outer part of the glove.
It was also an attempt to eliminate as many eye pokes as possible. As UFC fans well know, too many fights have been stopped early due to an inadvertent finger to the eye.
However, according to Strickland, in an attempt to fix one problem, the re-design actually created more issues for fighters.
When asked about the change, Strickland began hurling insults at “whoever” created the blueprint for the new gloves.
“Yeah, they suck! Really. Can we talk to the person who designed these gloves? Have you ever been in a fight in your f*cking life?
“It’s like you get these f*cking dorks that have no idea. How did you assholes think this was a good idea? So, yeah. They absolutely suck. UFC dropped the ball on that one.”
Sean Strickland is NOT a fan of the new UFC gloves:“Can we talk to the person who designed these gloves. Have you ever been in a fight in your f***ing life?”🎥 @MMAFighting #UFC302 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/f7PHknrYnZ
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) May 29, 2024
Strickland elaborated further, explaining that eye pokes are unavoidable and that more cuts will happen with the new gloves.
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“At the end of the day, people f*cking get poked in the eyes because they open their f*cking hands.
“Unless you put a boxing glove on, that sh*t’s not going to stop. It’s just people creating a problem that we did not have.
“If you get cut because you get hit in the f*cking head — don’t get hit in the f*cking head, [and] you don’t get cut.
“You get poked in the eyes because you f*cking opened your hands — don’t open your hands, [and] you won’t get poked in the eye.”
Regardless of Strickland’s opinion, all fighters on the UFC 302 card must wear the new gloves. Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier will debut the all-gold design reserved for championship bouts in the main event.
As UFC 302 approaches, Strickland will face Paulo Costa in the co-main event in a battle that could have massive ramifications for the middleweight division.
He’s coming off a controversial loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297, which saw judges rule the contest in favor of the South African by a split decision.
Strickland believes that a victory against Costa will get him another crack at Du Plessis. And winning is exactly what the 33-year-old intends to do on June 1.