Carson's Corner with Bob Carson.

Yesterday on Carson’s Corner, I had an amazing interview with Trevor Wittman. Our main topic of focus was combat sports equipment, which doesn’t get a lot of attention in the world of MMA. After refoaming mitts 10 years ago because they were unsafe, Trevor has since started creating mitts with his company ONX Sports with the goal of rethinking processes to make athletes safe in a sport where every movement is crucial.

“When you think of mitts”, Trevor says, “there is no left or right.” Fighters have to strike at a target that is not designed to meet the mechanics of their body. This one size fits all design has made it unsafe for fighters, Wittman believes.

On the subject of gloves, Wittman is offering a dynamic approach. Wittmann confirmed that fighters are wearing multiple pairs of hand wraps to fight properly into large gloves. “Gloves are so big that they don’t properly fit fighters. When they throw punches, their hand hits different areas.  A lot of dead space in gloves. Less injuries in fights than in training.” Wittman has created a glove with three layers of foam to fit the fighters better.

Fighters and gym owners beware: Wittman recommends weighing your gloves. 4 out of 10 gloves he checked were at least 2 ounces less than advertised. Companies are mass producing gloves in the same pattern, and the consumers are getting sold short.

Some cynical members will say that Trevor is just trying to promote his brand; however, after interviewing Trevor for nearly an hour and have spoken to several of his fighters he has coached, it’s clear to me that Trevor’s motivation is the well- being of the fighter. I think if you listen to the interview you will get a real sense of what type of person Trevor is and will want to think more closely about the equipment you are using.