What this article answers:
- What are the best MMA gloves that prevent eye pokes?
- Why eye pokes happen in MMA
- How glove design influences fighter safety
- How ONX gloves differ from traditional MMA gloves
- Whether safer gloves can realistically reduce fouls
- How 3X MMA Coach of the Year Trevor Wittman engineered a modern solution
Mixed martial arts thrives on precision, grit, and the willingness to push past human limits. Fighters accept broken noses, bruised ribs, torn ligaments, and five-round wars as the price of greatness. But there’s one injury that stands above the rest in unpredictability and severity — an eye poke. So, it begs the question what are the best MMA Gloves that prevent eye pokes?
An eye poke can end a fight before it starts. It can derail a title shot. It can change a career forever. In the most devastating cases, it can alter a fighter’s vision permanently.
For years, athletes, coaches, and fans have agreed on one thing: MMA desperately needs better gloves. Yet the sport continued using the same flat, finger-extended, ergonomically outdated designs.
Until a coach refused to accept that “this is just how it is.”
This is the story of how one of MMA’s most respected minds engineered a modern glove to reduce eye pokes, protect fighters, and challenge the entire industry’s status quo. And yes — it answers the question asked more today than ever:
What are the best MMA gloves that prevent eye pokes?
The answer began inside the ONX Lab.
THE COACH WHO REFUSED TO LET HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF
To Trevor Wittman, this was bigger than a product — this was about revolutionizing a problem that fighters have lived with for far too long.
As a 3X MMA Coach of the Year and the strategist behind champions like Justin Gaethje, Kamaru Usman, and Rose Namajunas, Wittman has wrapped more broken hands and treated more preventable injuries than most coaches will see in a lifetime.
He heard the same complaints repeatedly:
“My fingertips are numb.”
“These gloves force my hand open.”
“I can’t keep my fingers curled.”
“It hurts to make a natural fist.”
So he went into the lab and built something better.
He debuted his first prototypes on The Joe Rogan Experience, where Rashad Evans demonstrated the design. Rogan immediately recognized the engineering:
“These are without a doubt the best-designed gloves I’ve ever used.”
— Joe Rogan, UFC Analyst & Commentator
And that moment shifted the conversation. For the first time, fighters saw a glove designed for them, engineered for protection.
WHAT ARE THE BEST MMA GLOVES FOR PREVENTING EYE POKES?
The best MMA gloves for preventing eye pokes are pre-curved, ergonomically shaped gloves that keep the fingers naturally curled, stabilize the wrist, and prevent involuntary finger extension. Today, the leading example is the glove engineered inside the ONX Lab by Trevor Wittman.
Preventing eye pokes requires making the safest hand position the most natural one. ONX gloves achieve that through four critical design innovations.
1. PRE-CURVED FINGER SHAPE
Traditional gloves want the hand flat. ONX gloves want the hand curled.
The pre-curved architecture:
• Keeps fingers naturally closed
• Makes an open hand a conscious decision
• Reduces accidental extension in scrambles
• Preserves full grappling functionality
Rashad Evans described the feel as:
“A natural fist-locked position… curved right away.”
This is the most effective design improvement for reducing eye pokes.
2. THE X-FACTOR WRIST SYSTEM
A loose wrist leads to a loose hand and loose fingers. The patented X-Factor System stabilizes the wrist and ligaments, improving punch mechanics and reducing stray finger movement.
Benefits include:
• Better wrist protection
• Less hand fatigue
• More consistent fist formation
• Less mid-round glove readjustment
• Safer striking posture
When the wrist is stable and pain-free, fighters no longer open their hands to compensate.
3. IMPROVED ERGONOMICS AND GRIP
Traditional gloves use stiff leather on the palm, which becomes slippery with sweat. That slipping forces fighters to open their fingers mid-exchange to adjust the glove.
ONX eliminates this issue by using adaptive materials that:
• Improve grip
• Maintain palm traction
• Keep knuckles anchored
• Prevent internal glove shifting
If the glove doesn’t slide, the hand doesn’t open.
4. PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION THAT PREVENTS FATIGUE-DRIVEN POKES
Hand fatigue is a silent contributor to eye pokes. When hands tire, fighters start to relax their fingers.
The redesigned ONX padding:
• Distributes pressure evenly
• Eliminates “hot spots” between knuckles
• Reduces hand cramps
• Maintains fist integrity through long rounds
A comfortable hand is a controlled hand — and a controlled hand reduces poke risk.
HOW ONX GLOVES COMPARE TO TRADITIONAL GLOVES
The difference is more than subtle — it’s philosophical.
Traditional Gloves
• Flat shape promotes finger extension
• Hard leather creates slippery palms
• Minimal wrist support
• Reports of numbness and pressure points
• Numerous high-profile eye pokes
ONX Gloves
• Pre-curved shape keeps fingers curled
• Adaptive underside improves grip
• Patented X-Factor wrist support
• Three times the durability
• 98% satisfaction from elite fighters and coaches
• Significant poke reduction in sparring
MMA can be safer without losing its edge — ONX proves it.
WHAT FIGHTERS AND ANALYSTS SAY
Feedback from fighters and analysts has been overwhelmingly positive:
• Joe Rogan: “Best-designed gloves I’ve ever used.”
• Rashad Evans: “This solves problems fighters have had forever.”
• Justin Gaethje: “Old gloves were uncomfortable. These fix everything.”
• Elevation Fight Team: Report significantly fewer pokes in sparring
• Combat sports communities: Push for safer gloves after major events
CAN SAFER GLOVES ELIMINATE EYE POKES COMPLETELY?
Short answer: no.
Long answer: they can reduce them dramatically.
Eye pokes won’t disappear entirely because reflexes and scrambles are unpredictable. But glove design tackles the biggest contributor: involuntary finger extension caused by flat gloves.
More stable gloves = fewer avoidable injuries, fewer no-contests, and longer careers.
THE ROAD FORWARD — AND WHY THIS FIGHT MATTERS
MMA evolves through innovation, not tradition.
Trevor Wittman’s glove wasn’t created in a boardroom. It was built from decades of wrapping hands, absorbing fighter complaints, and watching preventable injuries derail momentum and careers.
The best MMA gloves for preventing eye pokes aren’t the ones with the best logo. They’re the ones built with purpose — to protect the athletes who carry this sport forward.
Some fights happen under bright lights.
Others happen in labs.
Every once in a while, innovation wins by knockout.
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