Bad Boy Legacy Evolve MMA Shorts Review

Brand

Founded in San Diego in 1982 Bad Boy quickly gained a reputation for sponsoring athletes, initially in surfing, skating and motocross competitions. They made the move to martial arts by sponsoring the BJJ legend Rickson Gracie, and currently sponsors a stable of fighters including the likes of Alexander Gustafsson and Michael “Venom” Page. They stock a wide fade of fight gear and apparel and have become one of the most recognisable names in MMA with their distinctive two eyed logo.

Bad Boy sent us a pair of these shorts to try out and see what we think about them.

About the shorts

The Legacy Evolve shorts are designed to be the ideal MMA shorts and provide performance both on the feet and on the ground. They’ve got a 6 inch inseam (similar to the Virus Disaster Combat Shorts we previously reviewed) which almost makes them closer to kickboxing shorts, like the Official Glory Kickboxing Shorts.

Visuals

There are three different colours available from Bad Boy; Black, Grey and Blue and we got our hands on a pair of black ones. The shorts have a very distinctive aesthetic to them, with a pattern featuring a lot of hexagonal shapes filled with fine dot work, and some tribal style thick lines cutting angles across the legs and hips of the shorts. Naturally, being a Bad Boy product there’s several sets of eyes on the shorts, including on both legs, and front and back of the waistband. With the black shorts the pattern is picked out in a lighter grey, meaning that although it’s a bold and busy pattern it’s actually comes off as quite a subtle design, without the bright flashy colours you find on some shorts, particularly in Muay Thai. The black or grey versions would match perfectly with the Bad Boy Legacy 2.0 Boxing Gloves.

Materials and Craftsmanship

The Bad Boy website doesn’t identify the material they used to make these shorts, but it does say that they’ve used a 4D stretch material to allow maximal flexibility and freedom of movement. This material is very lightweight, as well as being fast drying which helps to keep them fresher for longer. There are breathable mesh panels on the sides of the legs at the hips, letting in air where it’s needed, and similar to many Thai shorts Bad Boy have put a split in the seam of the shorts to allow for extra range of motion. I’ve been using these shorts to train Muay Thai, and the flexibility of the material and design of the shorts is easily as good as a set of Muay Thai shorts. They’re also super comfortable to wear, with a softer inner lining that makes them a pleasure to put on. The waistband is fastened by a vertical velcro strip (like the zipper on a pair of jeans) coupled with a horizontal flap across the top and a adjustable lace up strap to get the perfect fit. The waistband is also lined with little silicon dots that help to grip your waist and prevent the shorts from slipping round during training sessions.

They’ve also been very well made, all the seams are very neatly stitched and the shorts fit together very neatly. I can’t find any details so I assume they’re machine made, but the quality is as good as I’ve seen on any MMA shorts, and between the materials and the craftsmanship I haven’t been able to find a fault with these shorts – they seem to live up to the claims made by Bad Boy’s website.

Comfort/use

Like I already mentioned, Bad Boy have engineered these shorts for performance. The flexibility of the material makes them ideal for throwing kicks, the moisture wicking ability helps to keep them fresh and they fit very well. The comfort of these shorts is brilliant – you could quiet easily chill out around the house in them as well as use them for training! I’ve worn them for Muay Thai training as well as during strength and conditioning sessions and they’ve been great for both.

I particularly like the addition of the silicon grips on the waistband, they work very well to stop the shorts twisting during training, which happens semi-regularly with Thai style shorts. Another useful feature is the addition of a mouthguard pocket on the inside of the waistband, which is great for when you’re swapping between drills and sparring, stops you from having to search through your bag for the mouthguard and prevents it ending up on the floor during sessions.

Cost

These are available on the Bad Boy website for $64.99 or €54.98, which works out somewhere around £50, which to me represents fair value for money. You can find cheaper shorts as a beginner, but if you’re looking for high quality, well made shorts that are suitable for all kinds of training, you’d do very well to consider the Legacy Evolve shorts.

Looking to buy these?