Alright, so I’d been needing a new pair of MMA gloves for a while. My old ones were starting to really show their age, padding getting flat, you know the deal. I started looking around, seeing what was out there, what people were actually using in training and fights.
I kept noticing the gloves used in ONE Championship. They had this distinct look, different from the usual stuff you see everywhere. Seemed less bulky, maybe more focused on allowing grappling? That got me curious because I mix things up a lot – hitting the bag, pad work with a partner, and a fair bit of rolling and clinch work. Finding a glove that works okay for everything is tough.
So, I decided to just go for it and grab a pair of those official ONE gloves. I figured, why not try what the pros in that organization are using? Maybe there was something to that design. I wanted something that wouldn’t feel like huge pillows when I tried to grip, but still offered some decent knuckle protection for striking.
Ordering them was straightforward enough. Found a place online that stocked them, put in the order, and waited. Shipping took its time, maybe a week or so, but eventually, the package showed up at my door. Nothing fancy about the packaging, just the gloves inside.
First thing I did was pull them out and really look them over. They felt lighter than my previous MMA gloves. The padding over the knuckles felt dense, not super thick but solid. The wrist strap was a simple wrap-around Velcro, seemed like it would hold things tight. I slipped them on. The fit was snug, which I prefer – hate gloves sliding around. My fingers felt quite free, more dexterity than I expected.
Hitting Stuff
Naturally, the next step was taking them to the gym. I started out on the heavy bag to get a feel for the impact. You definitely feel your shots a bit more compared to thicker training gloves, but it wasn’t painful. The protection felt adequate for hitting bags and pads. I cranked the wrist strap down tight, and it gave reasonable support, didn’t feel like my wrist was going to fold over easily. They felt fast on the hands, probably because they aren’t cumbersome.
Getting Grabby
The real test for me was the grappling aspect. How would they handle transitions and grips? I jumped into some drills and light positional sparring.
- Making grips was way easier. The open palm design and the way the fingers are separated really helped with grabbing wrists or controlling posture.
- I could still form a solid fist inside the glove for strikes during grappling exchanges.
- Switching between striking and grappling felt more natural. Didn’t feel like I had big obstacles on my hands when shooting for a takedown or fighting for hand position on the mat.
That was a big positive. Not feeling clumsy when things hit the ground was exactly what I was hoping for.
Few Months In
I’ve been using these gloves pretty regularly for a few months now, maybe three or four sessions a week. They’re holding up decently. There’s the usual cosmetic wear, some scuffs on the striking surface, but the stitching is all intact. The padding hasn’t completely bottomed out, still feels protective enough. Like any glove, they get sweaty inside, so airing them out properly after each session is key to keeping the stink down.
What really stands out after using them for a while is the balance. They aren’t the absolute best glove purely for striking – you’d want more padding for hard sparring. They aren’t the absolute best glove purely for grappling – some might prefer no glove at all. But they manage to be pretty damn good at both, making them genuinely suitable for mixed martial arts training where you’re doing everything. That versatility is their main strength.
So, that’s my rundown on the ONE Championship gloves based on my own use. I got them partly out of curiosity about the design, and they turned out to be a solid choice for my kind of all-around training. They let me switch between hitting pads and rolling without constantly changing gear. They have a different feel, for sure, but it’s a feel that makes sense for the mix of skills in MMA. Not perfect, nothing is, but they do the job I need them to do.
