UFC Foundation
UFC recently spearheaded a series of community activations to give back to the community as part of fight week for UFC 326: HOLLOWAY vs. OLIVEIRA 2, which took place on Saturday, March 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
On Tuesday, March 3, UFC launched its Gloves for Good Program, designed to align with athletes to create custom-designed one-of-one branded gloves to raise funds and awareness for the charity of their choice.
The program will be offered to athletes each year who are named the recipient of the Forrest Griffin Community Award, an accolade which recognizes a UFC athlete for their exceptional volunteer and charity work and the meaningful impact their efforts have on the community.
Former featherweight champion Max Holloway, who headlined UFC 326, served as the first MMA athlete to auction an exclusive one-of-one pair of UFC-branded gloves. The gloves, inspired by Holloway and designed by celebrity artist Ant Kai, highlights elements of Hawaii, Max’s home state. Holloway was the recipient of the Forrest Griffin Community Award in 2021.
The gloves are now available as part of an exclusive global sweepstakes, where the winner will secure the gloves along with an all-expenses paid trip to Holloway’s next fight. Fans can enter to win the gloves by donating between $10 – $500, at AllTroo, a global fundraising platform.
“It’s an honor to be the first UFC athlete to design a pair of custom gloves as part of the program,” said Holloway. “The funds raised from this campaign will help underprivileged youth in Hawaii via my new foundation, and we can’t wait to get started.”
100% of the proceeds from this campaign will benefit underprivileged youth in Hawaii via the Max Holloway Foundation and UFC Foundation.
In honor of March being recognized as Women’s History Month, UFC community impact highlighted its Breaking Barriers initiative and partnered with two non-profit organizations focused on female empowerment through combat sports.
On Wednesday, March 4, UFC Hall of Famer Joanna Jedrzejczyk and strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern joined with Shama Ko, Program Director from Girl’s N Gi’s, to teach more than 30 youth fundamental elements of jiu-jitsu in an afternoon of special training.
“It’s great to give back and teach young women jiu-jitsu,” said Dern. “A lot of people think of jiu-jitsu as a male dominated sport, but more women of all ages are joining the jiu-jitsu community each day and having so many young women here at Apex shows you how fast it’s growing. These events are great and I’m glad to hear that we will do more of them.”
Founded in 2009, GIG is dedicated to building and strengthening the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community for women and girls around the world. The organization provides experiences that foster the community of women and girls in the martial arts while encouraging new women and girls to participate, with a goal of empowering and uniting women and girls in their martial arts training, as well as in life.
On Thursday, March 5, Jedrzejczyk and former bantamweight champion Miesha Tate collaborated with Geneva Brown-Gray and Slam Nevada Wrestling to host a women’s freestyle clinic at Meta APEX.
During the event, Brown-Gray, one of only three women to receive the gold level coaching certification from USA Wrestling, organized the 35 middle and high students into three groups that rotated to various stations led by Jedrzejczyk and Tate, with both former champions teaching elements associated with throws and placements.
“It was an absolute honor to teach these girls with two legends of MMA here at APEX,” said Brown-Gray. “This was an amazing experience that we will never forget, and even more special to be a part of Women’s History Month and Breaking Barriers.”
Founded in 2016, Slam Nevada is a public charter school that focuses on preparing students for college and careers in sports leadership and management. Slam Nevada’s wrestling program is considered one of the most dominant in the state, recently securing its fifth-consecutive class 5A state title in February 2026.
On Friday, March 6, UFC collaborated with Make-A-Wish Nevada to host several families in attendance for UFC 326. Wish kids and families were able to meet former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway and former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.
On Saturday, March 7, UFC also held its statewide online and in-venue 50/50 raffle with fans being able to purchase tickets during UFC 326 at T-Mobile Arena. The raffle grossed $50,970, with net funds benefitting local Nevada charities.
Since 2017, UFC has produced more than 45 separate 50/50 raffles throughout North America that have grossed more than $2.7 million, with net proceeds benefitting local charities in the communities that have hosted UFC events throughout the United States and Canada.
UFC’s corporate social responsibility program, #UFCInTheCommunity, strategically collaborates with partners, sponsors, and athletes to develop additional charitable programs and funding sources to help bolster and inspire the local community. For more information, please visit UFCFOUNDATION.