A similar concept applies to combat sports. Most people see big padded boxing gloves and think they are for limiting damage to the opponent. It's actually the o

A similar concept applies to combat sports. Most people see big padded boxing gloves and think they are for limiting damage to the opponent. It's actually the opposite. The gloves protect against breaking your hand on a punch, allowing a boxer to hit their opponent more aggressively. Boxing or MMA without gloves would actually be less harmful, but it appears more brutal so most leagues use gloves.