You just answered your own question. People would be more likely to to break their knuckles on people's skills which means there will be less hits to people's skulls to cause concussions.
8oz gloves seems to be a very reasonable middle ground to me.
That's the idea of gloveless, you can't just trade blows all day. It probably would make boxing safer (where safer means choosing hand damage over brain damage).
In MMA I believe it would reduce boxing and increase the prevalence of grappling and muay thai. Ultimately the goal I'd like to aim for is less chronic head injuries, I think gloveless would do that, but who knows.
On the topic of ditching "safety gear" I'm curious what CTE rates are comparing American Football to Rugby or Australian Football.
Joe Rogan is a tool but he’s not always wrong.