mouth guards for mma?

My recommendation is a double mouthpiece.

Mako is an idiot. Yes, double mouth pieces (upper and lower jaw protection) are readily available pretty much anywhere mouthpieces are sold. The brain pad is a specific brand of mouthpiece, it's a high quality double mouth piece.

Which mouthpiece you use is your choice, but most of the fighters I know only use a single mouthpiece. Double pieces offer considerably more protection against concussion, but they DO slightly restrict your breathing through your mouth. Personally, I have both. I keep a double mouth piece for training, so I don't take too much of a beating in practice, and also to help restrict my airflow, so I can better train my wind condition. I use a high quality single mouthpiece for fights to maximize my airflow.

The best part about double mouthpieces, besides the extra padding, is that they isolate your lower jaw. A single mouthpiece doesn't hold the lower jaw stable, so a stiff punch can push your bottom jaw side to side or back, putting a lot of pressure on your TMJ, possibly knocking you out. Since a double mouthpiece locks both the upper and lower teeth into position, if you take a shot to the chin or jaw, your bite will stay closed an even, helping reduce the stress on your TMJ. You'll absorb the blow with the muscles in your neck, instead of your brain.

The best advice I can give is to get a mouthpiece with plenty of padding. Those cheap $1 one piece mouthpieces are crap. They're too hard and too thin to offer any protection for an MMA fighter. Either get a double mouthpiece, or at least get a high quality single mouthpiece with two-material design. The better mouthpieces will have a harder material for the structure, but a softer gel-like padding for the bite.

Also be sure that when you mold it, you don't bite down too hard and damage the mouthpiece. Biting too hard can displace too much of the padding that SHOULD be between your upper and lower jaw. You should bite only hard enough to mold it well to your teeth to ensure it stays in place, but not hard enough to diminish the padding between your jaws.

Best Mouth Guard For Mma

I don't think they have a two in one mouth guard that protects both upper and lower teeth, but I can tell you the normal ones will be enough. As for the "brain pad thing" do you mean the headgear they use for sparring? or the one they use for wrestling? Anyways, it protects your ears, and basically your head from getting rocked.