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Without fail, when Eddie Wineland fights, Joe Rogan will start in on his “Don’t teach your kids to fight like Eddie Wineland,” speech. Of course, what he means is, don’t fight with your hands down, chin up, back stiff, and entirely reliant on foot-speed and head movement to create defense. What he probably wasn’t thinking of was being a power puncher who doesn’t wrap his hands.
Still, if Wineland deserves any particular stylistic claim to infamy, perhaps there’s no more fitting one than that. The fighter recently posted a shot of his “wraps” shortly after KOing Frankie Saenz in the third round of their UFC on Fox 20 bout.
Fact: I hate hand wraps so the commission requires "something" Here are my wraps from last night! #hardhands pic.twitter.com/yFt4viJxWD
— Eddie Wineland (@EddieWineland) July 24, 2016
As you can see, there’s about as little as possible covering his hands and knuckles, just enough to pass pre-fight inspections. After that, any injury prevention and/or KO power is all down to technique and bone density.
But hey, if it works, why fix it?