Mixed Martial Arts is a sport that originated as an all styles competition called Vale Tudo (Anything goes) in Brazil. There are more than enough in depth explanations of the sport online but essentially the modern incarnation of MMA remains a blend of Striking, Wrestling and no gi Jiu jitsu.

North East Fight Centre is the place to learn MMA in Newcastle with many of the North Easts top Fighters training with veteran Coach Pete Irving.

MMA Gear Guide

In 2018 long term friend and local businessman Alex Wright asked Pete to shoot an MMA Gear Guide for REVGEAR Sports and as ever he did a great job of explaining the various gear you need to get started in Mixed Martial Arts. In the video linked below Pete explains everything you need from the first day you step onto the mat to the gear you need as you progress.

PETE’s MMA GEAR GUIDE (Click to watch the video)

The video breaks down like this:

Day 1 – You need decent set of MMA Shorts noting that normal shorts have pockets, zip which are hazardous and that the fabrics and stitching are not designed to deal with the rigours of everyday training.

Next up get a mouth guard (AKA gum shield) as accidents can happen.

Once you have progressed you need some boxing gloves for padwork and mitts. Pete emphasises the importance of quality and that borrowing other peoples gloves is unhygienic.

Shin guards styles vary but Pete notes this is a matter of preference from person to person, however his preference is the Thai style shinguards such as REVGEAR thai Original.

MMA Gloves
The advice here is to buy the sparring style MMA glove, sometimes referred to as Puffies or amateur style glove. An example of this would be the MS1 mma sparring glove.

Pete notes headguards are a matter of choice but check with your coach on his rules for sparring.

Referring back to gloves Pete notes the differences between smaller 4oz MMA gloves to sparring gloves as well as noting the sizing in boxing gloves and their various uses.

For beginners pay particular attention to the advice Pete gives about uses of the various gloves in MMA.

Lastly Pete summarises options on fight gear for extra training such as pads, bags and ground bags.