Issue 080

October 2011

The UFC bantamweight champion may leave his clothes to dry out at the gym, but his bag is packed with guards, gloves and old-school wrestling gear

FAIRTEX SHIN GUARDS

“I’ve gone through so many shin guards but I’ve found that these Fairtex ones are the best. These will probably last me another year. I had a pair that lasted me two years before. They are definitely the most durable shin guards and they protect the shins the best. In the past I’ve suffered from injuries due to poor shin guards but these protect me really well. I’m real happy with them.”

TKO MMA GLOVES

“I would love for the UFC to send me a pair of fight gloves to train in to be honest, but these are the next best thing. It’s really hard to find a pair of MMA gloves that fit right and are comfortable to train in all of the time, because you sweat in them so much that they go pretty crispy, they could almost stand up in the corner on their own, you know, and probably walk away too! But these TKO ones are good. They fit me right and that’s what matters most.”

16oz BOXING GLOVES

“These are my sparring gloves. I’ve had these for a while so I probably could do with a new pair. They’re pretty worn in, but they are awesome gloves. I prefer the old lace-up style as I feel like they give me much more support. Every time I have worn Velcro ones I feel like my wrist hasn’t quite got the same support when I throw punches, I just love the support from these ones.”

ASICS WRESTLING SHOES

“This is my third pair of Dan Gable Ultimates. I keep getting the same exact pair because I love them so much. In the middle they bend all the way through so it just feels like you have a pair of socks on and they are just extremely comfortable, extremely durable. You can’t go wrong with Asics.”

TITLE HEAD GUARD

“I really like this headgear. It’s awesome. It’s the gel-enforced one, so it really shields me from cuts and it really softens blows to the head. It’s so imperative to wear headgear. You get hit so much and your brain gets scrambled that you gotta try and keep it in one piece for as long as you can. Plus this one also really protects me from cuts, I love this headgear a lot.”

WRESTLING HEADGEAR

“I’ve actually had this since my sophomore year in high school. It’s pretty worn now but I’ve had so many wrestling matches in it, and it’s probably pretty crazy that I still have it, but I could never get rid of it. It fits my head perfectly. My ears are pretty bashed up but that’s from me not wearing it. This saved me a lot from cauliflower ears, believe me. In fact, let this be a lesson to all kids: wear your headgear!”

GROIN PROTECTOR

“I use this a lot for my kickboxing and sparring. It’s like a mini boxing protector in that it protects from my groin and just above it also. I only really use this for striking sparring. It’s from my kickboxing days, but I learned a long time ago that the best way to not get hit in the nuts is just to move around a lot!”