MMA Equipment for Beginners: The 5 Essentials You Actually Need (2026)
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The short answer: to start MMA you need five things: MMA gloves (and 16oz boxing gloves if your gym spars in them), shin guards, a hygiene kit, a gum shield, and a rashguard and MMA shorts. Everything else can wait until you've done a couple of months and know what your gym actually uses.
Most people starting MMA either turn up with nothing or spend £400 on kit they never use. Here's the middle ground: what to buy before your first few weeks, roughly what to pay, and what to leave on the shelf for now.
1. MMA gloves
The open-fingered gloves that let you strike and grapple in the same round. For training, most beginners want 7oz hybrid or sparring gloves: more padding than the 4oz competition gloves you see on fight night, but still loose enough in the fingers to grip. Expect to pay £25 to £60.
Check with your gym before you buy anything else: plenty of clubs do their striking in 16oz boxing gloves and only use MMA gloves for drilling and light sparring. If yours does, a pair of 16oz boxing gloves comes first.
2. Shin guards
Kicking pads, and each other, without guards is how beginners end up with shins that look like a map of the Lake District. Any decent pair of shin-instep guards does the job, with a strap or sock-style fit that doesn't slide round mid-round. Around £25 to £60. Get them sized properly: the guard should cover from just below the knee to the top of your foot.
3. A hygiene kit
The one nobody mentions until it's too late. MMA is hours of skin-to-skin contact on a shared mat, often with grazes and mat burn, and skin infections like ringworm, staph and impetigo move through gyms quickly. Most of avoiding them is habits: shower straight after training, use your own towel and soap, wash your kit the same day, keep your nails short, and don't train on anything you can't explain.
The right kit just makes those habits easy. Our Starter Hygiene Kit (£34) puts the whole routine in one bag: a Full Guard V2 spray for straight off the mat when the shower's an hour away, an athlete soap bar, a training towel, a nail care kit and a leaflet on the routine itself. Add Gear Guard (£16.49) for your gloves and shin guards: they can't go in a washing machine, and it kills 99.999% of bacteria and 99.99% of fungi in 60 seconds, tested to BS EN standards.
4. A gum shield
Non-negotiable from the first time anyone's swinging at you. A boil-and-bite guard (around £5 to £20) is fine to start; if you stick with it, a custom-fitted one from a dentist or a specialist (£40 to £100) is the upgrade worth making. Rinse it after every session and let it dry in a case, not loose in your bag.
5. A rashguard and MMA shorts
A fitted rashguard stops mat burn, keeps you from sliding round in your partner's sweat, and is far more pleasant for whoever's on top of you than a cotton T-shirt. MMA shorts have no pockets or zips and split up the side so you can kick and grapple. Around £20 to £45 each. Wash both after every session.
What you don't need yet
- Headguard: most gyms don't want you sparring hard for the first few months, and many provide them when you do.
- Your own pads and focus mitts: the gym has them.
- Groin guard: worth it once you're sparring with kicks; ask your coach when.
- Expensive "fight" branded kit: it won't make you better and it'll be wrecked by month three anyway.
What starting MMA costs
| Item | Rough price | Buy before day one? |
|---|---|---|
| MMA gloves (or 16oz boxing gloves) | £25–£60 | Yes |
| Shin guards | £25–£60 | Within the first fortnight |
| Hygiene kit | £34 (+ £16.49 for Gear Guard) | Yes |
| Gum shield | £5–£20 | Yes |
| Rashguard and shorts | £40–£90 | Yes, or train in what you've got for week one |
Somewhere between £130 and £280 gets you properly kitted out. Plenty of gyms will lend you gloves for a trial session, so ask before you spend.
Questions people ask
What should I bring to my first MMA class?
Gym clothes you can move in (a T-shirt or rashguard and shorts with no zips or pockets), a gum shield, a water bottle, a towel, and flip-flops for off the mat. Take your jewellery off and cut your nails before you go. Most gyms will lend gloves for a first session.
What size MMA gloves should a beginner get?
7oz hybrid or sparring gloves for training. 4oz gloves are for competition and offer far less protection to you and your partner.
Do I need my own shin guards straight away?
For the first session or two, no. As soon as you're kicking pads or partners regularly, yes. Shared shin guards are also one of the less pleasant things in a gym, hygiene-wise.
How do I keep MMA kit from smelling?
Wash what can be washed after every session, and for gloves and shin guards, spray, wait, wipe and dry them open after every use. Our guide to cleaning boxing and MMA gloves goes step by step, and this comparison covers which sprays actually work.
Starting a different sport? See boxing equipment for beginners and jiu jitsu equipment for beginners.
We make the hygiene kit on this list; we don't sell gloves, shin guards, gum shields or clothing. Full Guard and our soap are cosmetic products for cleansing the skin and do not treat or prevent any condition. Gear Guard is a biocidal product: use biocides safely and always read the label before use.
