Fairtex MMA Gloves Review – Is It Worth the Money?

My extensive Fairtex MMA Gloves Review

Fairtex is martial arts equipment and clothing company which is based in Thailand. This company was founded by Philip Wong who loved doing Muay Thai training in his spare time and he wanted you to have the best gear during your MMA sessions so he built this company.

As you may know, MMA gloves of the company are awarded as “best” according to Wikipedia in 2008.

If you are looking to decide which Fairtex MMA Gloves to get you are in the right place. Below you can read Fairtex MMA Gloves reviews and decide which one is more suitable for your training requirements.

As a side note, these gloves are tested in Bangplee, Samut Prakan which is so close to where I live lol.

1. Fairtex Ultimate Combat Open Thumb MMA Gloves


Fairtex Ultimate Combat Open Thumb MMA GlovesProtection: 8.4 / 10.0

Performance: 9.5 / 10.0

Comfort: 9.8 / 10.0

Cost Efficiency: 8.6 / 10.0

Exclusive Features

  • Decent protection
  • Open thumb design
  • Great for grappling and punching
  • Truly great comfort
  • Handmade

Cons

  • Short break in period (a week)

When you look at these gloves you can see that these gloves have open thumb design. This allows that you have more freedom of movement for fingers and makes the glove suitable for grappling sessions. Whether you like working out with grappling dummies or sparring with a partner, these gloves can accommodate you. The finger compartment is longer than usual however it does not put extra tension on your fingers while grappling or making a fist. So grappling performance gets A+.

Let’s continue with punching performance and the safety.

If you are punching with a proper technique (all fingers are in correct positions etc.) you don’t need to worry about a thing while punching with Fairtex Ultimate. However, if you don’t, you may get injured. And open thumb design definitely does not help with that. Imagine that you are working out with a heavy bag which has sand as a filler and tough cover material. Punching it without a proper technique will not end well for you. But as I said if you are careful and do light bag work, then it is completely fine.

Fairtex MMA Gloves are known for providing good comfort and allow air in and out. And this one also has open thumb design so you can expect even more air penetration.

This pair is handmade in Thailand and the leather is very sturdy and it is quite stiff. This is the reason why it has a slightly long break-in period so you will need a couple of sessions to fully break in Fairtex.

The padding has 3 layers and it absorbs the shock 3 times. According to a myriad of MMA fighters’ feedback, this style (layers of foam) protects the hands quite well. The layers are also thin and you can move your fingers quite comfortably.

The price: It is handmade, provides top-notch grappling performance and above average striking sessions. In addition to these, it is very sturdy. In my opinion, the price is a bargain.

Fairtex MMA Grappling Gloves – FGV17


Protection: 8.6 / 10.0

Performance: 9.1 / 10.0

Comfort: 9.3 / 10.0

Cost Efficiency: 8.8 / 10.0

Exclusive Features

  • Ergonomic design
  • Longer finger compartment
  • Pre-curved

Cons

  • Only suitable for grappling
  • Short break in period

As you can tell by the name, Fairtex MMA Grappling Gloves-FGV17 are only suitable for grappling. Even though the knuckle part seems bulkier don’t be fooled by it. Since the foam is soft and does not protect your knuckles while you are punching. Anyway, this glove is curved and you can grapple and do submission techniques on your opponent or a grappling dummy more effectively.

The cushioning of palm compartment and between the fingers are also quite “soft” and if you trained with this kind of an MMA glove before, you will feel exactly the same with this glove.

This glove is also made of very high-quality genuine leather and as the pair above, this one also is stiff. However a couple of weeks later this will not be an issue for you.

Fairtex FGV17 has very tight wrist compartment and the upper part also feels tight. These help with the ergonomic design thus while grappling you get better performance from it. So you sacrifice comfort, however, imagine that you can move your hands better during your session with an opponent, it may be the difference between submitting him/her or defeat. Also, you know that you need to get every advantage you can get during martial arts, don’t you?

So you will basically perform well on mats with Fairtex MMA Grappling Gloves FGV17 and if you are interested, you can have a closer look on here.

Both gloves are handmade, have high-quality leather and also have short break in periods. These are basically the signature characteristics of Fairtex MMA Gloves. Also guys please take care of the leather. I normally don’t say this but the leather deserves more care since it has serious quality so if you take care of it, clean it regularly, these gloves will definitely last more.

Would I Buy These Gloves? Firstly, I am biased here. Since I always liked the construction and design of Fairtex.  I also did my first MMA training with Fairtex and these are tested in MMA centers which are really close to my place in Samut Prakan and you already read all the details about training performance above. You should also keep in mind that these gloves are made of genuine leather so the price tags of these gloves are not cheap however these are not expensive either.

Customer Service: They really care about your satisfaction with the products and if you ask questions (online), they will actually reply to you. Furthermore, many Fairtex products have a 30-day money back guarantee as well. I don’t have any personal experience with the customer service, however, I often read good things on forums.

Do you have any questions about my Fairtex MMA Gloves Review? If you have, just leave a comment below. I always reply to my readers within 2 days.

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18 thoughts on “Fairtex MMA Gloves Review – Is It Worth the Money?”

  1. Nice article, I like how you grade the performance, protection, comfort, and cost efficiency. Helps with the overview. I do like fairtex myself and I do love the gloves that have the open thumb to provide extra freedom. Not a big fan of the grappling gloves just because I am not a big fan of the thumb restriction, although it does help protect the thumb from jams.

    1. Well, I don’t like the open thumb but there are many people who prefer it and say that they are more comfortable with it. Restriction of finger movement just sucks during grappling. And if you ever decide to get grappling gloves from my site definitely check out training rating of that pair.

  2. Yes those fairtex gloves are a great pair to have. Very comfortable, light, and easy to grapple with. They are also durable so last for quite a while. Nice to spar light in although I would not recommend people doing hard mma sparring with those pair because the padding is not extremely thick. Great review keep it up!

    1. Man, that is great that you shared your experiences on here. I really appreciate it. I guess you are talking about Combat which is the first pair. Yeah, these don’t have a lot of padding so I would also suggest that people can do light sparring with them. You are always welcome and talk about your experiences about your new MMA gloves on here ; )

  3. The fairtex gloves do seem like a bargain at 70 dollars and some change, especially when you compare them to other gloves that are not high quality. Based on material, fit, extra thumb room I would choose fairtex. Also from a feel good point of view it’s just nice to have gloves that are hand made because you know someone that truly cares made them.

    1. A guy like me, who does not earn much, I don’t call it a bargain lol : ) But it has a decent price. I actually have seen better prices in Bangkok which is quite normal. Anyway, considering the materials you are absolutely right. It is one of the rare and quality gloves which are made of high-quality genuine leather.

  4. These Fairtex MMA gloves look awesome! But are they just for men? Are there gloves more specific for women in MMA?

    1. Yeah, they do look nice. No everyone can use them as long as it is the right size.

      There are some and these basically offer a bit more protection than usual and have feminine colors. If you are interested check out these good MMA gloves for women.

  5. Nice post. It gains me a lot of knowledge of MMA gloves. A good protection of the hand is very important. I like an open thumb that one. I don’t like any restriction on my hand. It makes me more comfortable.

    Thank you for you sharing.

    1. Yeah, that is quite good about it. Even though there is no cushioning on the thumb part the other parts are quite protective and it has padding which distributes the shock fast.
      Due to the design yeah you can move your fingers more comfortably.

  6. I like the look of the Fairtex grappling gloves. I used to wrestle so grappling is in my bones. I want to throw punches and be able to grapple with someone. Boxing gloves just do not cut it.

    I do have a question though. What have other customers been saying about their experience with these gloves? I like your thoughts, but I would like to hear from others besides you before I buy.

    Thank you for sharing and I hope you make it a great day!

    1. Once you grapple you can remember the techniques fairly easily. My little brother used to do martial arts and he recently started training again. He does not remember how to do a hook but he did not forget doing triangle chokes. So I know what you meant. I included the feedback of people on forums and if you want to do a more extensive research, check out martial arts forums like Sherdog.

  7. OK, with the risk to sound like a dumb question:
    Are the gloves you listed here suitable for the gym as well?
    I’m a gym junkie and I used to have gloves similar to your selection.
    I really like most of the items from your post, so I’ll be waiting for your reply.
    Thanks a lot in advance!

  8. Hi Furkan,

    Excellent review! I found it very useful!

    We have a punching bag at home and lately my husband, and I started to do kickboxing. It’s fantastic, and it releases all the stress. But when I punch, it really hurts my hands, and now I need gloves to protect them. The Fairtex Ultimate Combat Open Thumb seems to be very effective. Where I live it’s very hot, so I just would like to know is those gloves make you sweat? If there is something I dislike is sweating:) Thank you very much for this great post!

    1. That one has good padding and even though it is an MMA glove it provides decent protection for knuckles. But still, you need to make sure that you are punching with a good technique and don’t go full force otherwise it can still hurt. According to my experience, Fairtex is number one when it comes to getting rid of sweat.

  9. This is such a great and thorough review of these gloves! You break it down so well and clearly have extensive knowledge on the subject. I think the open-thumb would be my preference as I wouldn’t want my dexterity to be compromised. Thanks again and Merry Christmas!

    1. There are many gloves for sparring and you don’t need open thumb gloves to move and grapple well. These already offer 4-way freedom for it and put less tension on your fingers. However, open thumb gloves offer more freedom than all-around training gloves.

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