Why Do UFC Fighters Touch Gloves

Since the early days of the UFC and MMA, fighters have almost always touched gloves before beginning the fight. This is pretty universal and is also a big taboo if a fighter refuses. The origins of this tradition date back to boxing and it may have even started before this period. Often, it is viewed as an unwritten code of honor that most fighters tend to uphold. If you’re new to MMA or combat sports then you may find this quite unusual whereas veteran fans won’t even think anything of it.

In this article we shall analyze what this means and some of the rules surrounding it.

Why MMA fighters touch gloves

As mentioned, glove touching is done out of honor and is part of the tradition. In other words, it’s a sign of respect for your opponent. Remember, MMA and the UFC are ultimately sports with rules and a code of ethics. Even though fighting is brutal at times, you should still respect the person opposite you. In many ways, these rules are what separates professional fighting from street fighting where honor is not present.

To sum up, an MMA fighter may touch gloves purely to show respect to their opponent and even though they want to win, they’re still two human beings with families and personalities outside of the cage. Remember, some things are bigger than MMA and it doesn’t hurt to show humility. This ties in with the founding ideas of martial arts that are based on self improvement as an individual.

Do MMA fighters have to touch gloves?

Technically, MMA fighters do not have to touch gloves and it is not compulsory. Usually, there will be two options to touch gloves. The first is done by the referee who will literally shout “If you want to touch gloves then do so now.” Most of the time, this results in both fighters touching gloves whilst in proximity. Then, each fighter will go to their corner and wait for the fight to begin.

After this, there is sometimes a second glove touch. Sometimes, one of the fighters will reach out their arm as a goodwill gesture seconds into the fight. More than not, the opposing fighter will respond by touching the gloves which effectively starts the fight.

Having said this, not all fighters chose to touch the gloves. In some cases, there is sometimes bad blood between fighters beforehand – which is when things are personal between the two. A good example of this was seen between Jorge Masvidal and Ben Askren in the UFC. Masvidal refused to touch Askren’s gloves before the fight and then quickly knocked him out.

This behavior is seen as rude by many. At the same time, if there’s a genuine feud that goes beyond the usual trash talk then it’s completely understandable. In some cases though, if a fighter is completely focused then they may also refuse to touch gloves, even if there’s no personal beef between them and their opponent. Again, this can be viewed as rude but it does occasionally happen.

When MMA fighters refuse to touch gloves

Previously, we’ve mentioned that refusing to touch the gloves can be down to personal reasons. However, sometimes this also happens without personal grudges. The reason for this is psychological and to understand it, you need to enter the mindset of the individual fighter. For instance, they may need to do this to put on the best possible performance. Although this may appear trashy, it may also give them a better chance of winning as part of a pre-fight ritual.

Put differently, some fighters need to get in the zone and enter a hyper-aggressive mindset. If they touch gloves then it could undo their mentality and create empathy and sympathy for their opponent which isn’t ideal as a professional fighter.

By the same token, this psychology can also be the reason why some fighters need to touch gloves before fighting. On the opposite side of the spectrum, some need to see that their opponent is also a human being with feelings and humility. By touching gloves, this may calm the nerves and release a bit of fear and negative tension. Ultimately, this depends on the mental state of the fighter and whether they respond well to aggression or calmness.

When fighters pretend to touch gloves

Whilst refusing to touch gloves is taboo, faking a glove touch to gain an advantage is even worse. This is why the UFC often promotes glove touching moments before the fight, to avoid any controversies. In one fight, Arman Tsarukyan used a glove touch to land a kick on his opponent Mateusz Gamrot at the start of the fight.

Although Gamrot would go on to win the fight, it’s still an immoral thing to do which some claim is close to cheating. This is seen as bad sportsmanship and rightly so, as it is a petty, cheap way to gain a competitive advantage. Sadly, in some cases some fighters have even landed sucker punches whilst pretending to touch gloves which is even worse. Often though, fate has a good way of punishing these fighters and they end up losing anyway. Regardless of who wins, it’s still not nice to see and is thankfully quite a rare occurrence.

Similar MMA traditions

Glove touching may be common, but there are also similar ways of showing respect to your opponent. Some fighters may perform a small bow before the fight begins, whilst others may even embrace and share a quick hug before the action starts. Sometimes, this is done when two fighters understand how close the bout is and do this to show solidarity with each other.

This happened between Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira in their UFC title fight. Although the final round had already begun, the two shared an embrace in the final round which was to show the ultimate sign of brotherhood between the two before punches started flying. This was genuinely a poignant moment to see as an MMA fan.

As you may have figured, many of these traditions stem from other martial arts. For instance, bowing has long been used in Karate and Muay Thai. In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, practitioners will often slap hands and fist bump before rolling which is a similar tradition.

Summary

Glove touching isn’t exclusive to MMA. Generally speaking, most martial arts that involve gloves will often do this and as a result, it’s become pretty commonplace and expected. At the same time, touching the opponent’s gloves isn’t compulsory and it’s not always for everyone. Although you may view this as petty, remember it’s still not as bad as pretending to touch gloves to land a cheap shot which is much worse.

Hopefully by now, you should understand why this tradition happens and the psychological and cultural importance it often poses to either fighter.