If anyone possesses a keen insight to the ins and outs of a fighter's training camp and the role that proper training equipment plays in the safety of the athlete, it's 16 time world champion trainer Trevor Wittman. In Part 1 of Bloody Elbow's interview with Wittman, the topic of discussion was his current stable of fighters. In Part 2, he focuses on fighter's safety, exposes faulty training equipment, and hints at the need for a national commission.

Part 2 Interview: 16x world champ trainer Trevor Wittman **AUDIO ONLY**

Trevor Wittman opened up about what led him to creating his own equipment:

"Because of the issues I was having as a coach. My body was breaking down. It was hard for me to hold mitts, especially when you got guys like Shane [Carwin] hitting you. That makes you reassess everything you're putting on. I started sewing some patterns, trying my own patterns. Making right and left mitts where mitts don't have a right or left. So I kind of just started using all the pains that I had in the game and fighters like Shane and Duane Ludwig who are retiring because of injuries. it really made me look at what's in the game right now for equipment."

"Look at football gear... now the stuff, even in high school, looks like NFL gear. It's the highest level of stuff. The technology is there and people are trying new technologies and testing it. It's evolving. When I look at combat sport equipment, I feel like it's just branding. Everybody's branding these cool looks and cool colors. Everybody's missing the point. Why are these injuries happening?"

Coach Wittman claims that just because a label might say 16 ounces does not mean that they actually are:

"The thing that stands out the most to me and bothers me so bad... I did something which was so crazy to me. I put gloves on scales. I started grabbing all of these gloves and started putting them on scales. Nine out of ten gloves don't weigh what they say they weigh. It's not like they're 15.6 ounces and mark it up to 16. Cool, that's awesome. They're off by two or three ounces. Some are ten and eleven ounce gloves that say 16. Who is even checking them? ... I just can't believe how many major companies out there don't have the correct ounces on their gloves."

When asked to reveal which companies have been guilty of false labelling, coach Trevor Wittman responded with a challenge:

"What I would say is grab some gloves and put them on the scale. The last thing I'm going to do is call out these companies. I'm going to expose them by doing the right thing. Check them out. Grab some gloves and put them on the scale. I found some great bloggers, you can look it up on YouTube to find people checking out gloves, talking about the quality. What do they think about them. You'll see them talking about the ounces on there. Check them out."

For Trevor Wittman, the key to safety lies within education:

"For me, it's more about education. I would love to have discussions and continue to meet and talk education. Get other coaches who understand it and people who are at a high level to say let's hear the reasoning behind things...There's so many times that you see just stupid injuries that shouldn't have happened because equipment fails or someone not having a knee pad on and they throw a kick as someone shoots into a knee and ends up having to get stitched up."

Wittman wants to open up the conversation regarding a national commission:

"I think it's a lot more than just equipment. It's education. How can we educate the commission to do better and understand why rules are happening. I understand that's their job and I'm not going to say they're not doing things but again, can we open these discussions up more? Can we get people who are at high levels involved? Why can rules be different in different states and what's the reasoning behind it. Why not have it consistent? What are the issues with a national commission?"

Through providing patent pending training equipment and by sparking conversations regarding fighter safety and athletic commissions, Trevor Wittman is looking to make the world of combat sports a much safer place for the athletes and coaches involved. If you would like to check coach Wittman's training gear then check out ONX Sports. The full interview video for Part 2 can be seen at the top of the page.

Twitter:

@theeddiemercado

@trevorwittman