Why did Justin Gaethje fight without UFC logo on his gloves?

We saw the Justin Gaethje of old at UFC 313— the only thing missing? The UFC letters on his gloves.

The former interim UFC lightweight champion promised to bring back a more aggressive style to the Octagon, like his undefeated days in the World Series of Fighting (WSOF) and that he did, outworking Rafael Fizev to a close decision victory on Saturday.

The heavy-handed Gaethje had two solid black gloves as if he were fighting for a contract on Dana White's Contender Series, the UFC logo nowhere to be found...

"Why did Gaethje's gloves have no UFC marking?" UFC fighter Oban Elliott wrote on 'X'.

Justin Gaethje silences doubters, wins lightweight war in UFC 313 co-main event

According to Jon Anik on the broadcast, the UFC logo on Gaethje's gloves 'rubbed off during warm-ups' in the locker room: "Hunter Campbell came over and told me he chose to keep these gloves on."

The UFC letters on Gaethje's left glove were faded but still visible when he was in the locker room 10 minutes before his walk-out. As for his right glove, it looked completely normal with the UFC letters clear white. A few minutes later, the UFC logos on both of Gaethje's gloves were long gone.

"They started coming off in the back. so they wanted to make sure some of the flakes weren't going in my eyes or his eyes, so they took 'em off with tape," Gaethje explained at the UFC 313 post-fight press conference. "They wanted me to change them. I was like, 'Hell no... I got 'em on. I already broke 'em in. There's no way I'm switching to fresh gloves.'"

Some fans, like the ones below, speculated Gaethje tore off the letters on purpose right before the fight.

"Gaethje wiping the UFC logo off of his gloves because they blurred out his coaches ONYX brand bags in there video is top level pettiness. Love it," 'X' user Dom Harkness wrote.

Gaethje wiping the UFC logo off of his gloves because they blurred out his coaches ONYX brand bags in there video is top level pettiness. Love it. #UFC313

Justin Gaethje wears black gloves after UFC blurred Trevor Wittman's ONX logo on embedded pic.twitter.com/ShSBHj0gdx

As you may already know, Justin Gaethje's head coach and founder of ONX Sports Trevor Wittman developed a new kind of MMA glove, attempting to solve a number of issues within the sport. Gaethje much prefers his coaches 'ONX' gloves over the 'uncomfortable' UFC gloves he is clearly NOT a fan of.

Too bad UFC don’t want to change those shit gloves.

Because it wasn’t their idea lol

UFC Exclusive: Justin Gaethje Talks New UFC Gloves, Trevor Wittman Gloves, Eye Pokes

"The issue with the glove that we're using is [it's] very uncomfortable. It does not promote a comfortable [hand] position," Gaethje told MMA Knockout's Mathew Riddle of the UFC's gloves.

"I think that's one of the most important things for us players. Imagine putting the glove on getting ready for the biggest fight of your life, your fingertips are going numb and your hands are just - you're in pain in places that you didn't know there would be pain between your knuckles."

Hell of a fight! But, we’ve seen around 7,000 fights in the UFC, and I can’t recall a single time where the UFC logo completely came off both of a fighter’s gloves…I need to know what Gaethje was doing in the back to make that happen 👀 😂 pic.twitter.com/jNr9w14k9R

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Christopher De Santiago is a 22 year-old journalist from Gainesville, Texas with years of experience covering MMA.

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