Stipe Should Have Started MMA Earlier

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Blackjack

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Stipe, now 35 years old, had his first MMA fight when he was 27 years old for a small MMA promotion. He entered The UFC at 29 years old, 8 years after he was an NCAA DIV 1 Wrestler. An athlete's 20s are prime years. What was he doing from 2003-2010? I think he's a great fighter, maybe the best UFC Heavyweight ever, but imagine if he had gotten serious about fighting earlier!
 
Born Aug. 1982
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stipe_Miocic

First fight Aug. 2006 just prior to his 24th birthday
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Stipe-Miocic-39537

That aside... That might of been great for him to have started MMA sooner, but he was sharpening his skills with boxing & wrestling... & it all equated to him being a 3 time HW champ... so it's hard to say the path could've been better. His boxing & wrestling are a big part of why he's so successful in MMA
 
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He was fighting fires and banging your mom.

Anyway, he's here now and he's a young buck by HW standards.
 
Stipe reminds me of old school fighters that had real world jobs and fought on the side.
 
Not necessarily. The earlier you start, the earlier you probably peak.

Don't underestimate the benefits of less mileage on your body. Experience can be gained, but shot knees and a cracked chin can't be repaired.
 
Myrddin Wild said:
Born Aug. 1982
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stipe_Miocic

First fight Aug. 2006 just prior to his 24th birthday
http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Stipe-Miocic-39537

That aside... That might of been great for him to have started MMA sooner, but he was sharpening his skills with boxing & wrestling... & it all equated to him being a 3 time HW champ... so it's hard to say the path could've been better. His boxing & wrestling are a big part of why he's so successful in MMA
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I was referring to pro fights but I should have specified that. He did spend the three years prior to his pro career in amateur MMA. In those 3 years he spent a total of 6 minutes and 32 seconds in actual fights. After his first fight which he won in 45 seconds, he waited 13 months to fight again in a fight which he won in 52 seconds. In his final amateur fight which he won in 51 seconds, he waited twenty months to fight again, this time in his first pro fight which won in 17 seconds. That work pace isn't exactly what you'd call setting the world on fire. An athlete's twenties are just so valuable, they must be used in an optimal manner. Even a moderately paced fight schedule would very likely have gotten him into The UFC at least two years earlier. Also keep in mind, the older we get, the slower we learn new physical skills.
 
Organic Damage said:
Not necessarily. The earlier you start, the earlier you probably peak.

Don't underestimate the benefits of less mileage on your body. Experience can be gained, but shot knees and a cracked chin can't be repaired.
Click to expand...

Some fighters benefit more from an earlier start as well, those who have for example extreme speed/agility in their 20's, Stipe doesn't seem that kind of fighter to me, I mean you look back to earlier in his UFC career and he doesn't really look much quicker than today does he?

Someone like Crocop for example might well have been faster at 35 than we saw if he didn't start his fightsport career until late on but he wouldn't be as fast as he was in his late 20's and very early 30's. during his actual career.
 
Organic Damage said:
Not necessarily. The earlier you start, the earlier you probably peak.

Don't underestimate the benefits of less mileage on your body. Experience can be gained, but shot knees and a cracked chin can't be repaired.
Click to expand...

The earlier you start (within reason), the higher the level at which you probably peak. This is because the human brain learns more quickly in one's earlier years. For instance, most classical music prodigies start taking lessons extremely young, sometimes as early as 3 years old.

I think you'd have trouble finding a reputable MMA trainer who would say that getting into pro MMA at the age Stipe did is optimal.
 
If he came to UFC sooner he might have fought Cain, Ubereem on horsemeat and prime JDS before he went 10 rounds with Cain.

He's come along at the perfect time when everyone else apart from Ngannou is pretty worn out.
 
Blackjack said:
The earlier you start (within reason), the higher the level at which you probably peak. This is because the human brain learns more quickly in one's earlier years. For instance, most classical music prodigies start taking lessons extremely young, sometimes as early as 3 years old.

I think you'd have trouble finding a reputable MMA trainer who would say that getting into pro MMA at the age Stipe did is optimal.
Click to expand...

Stipe of course did get into MA's that feed into his MMA career at an early age, if your talking a missed opportunity I would say that actually Ngannou is clearer having no background until 4-5 years ago.
 
Organic Damage said:
Not necessarily. The earlier you start, the earlier you probably peak.

Don't underestimate the benefits of less mileage on your body. Experience can be gained, but shot knees and a cracked chin can't be repaired.
Click to expand...

Amen, look at Shogun, Aldo as examples. Maybe even Joanna
 
Blackjack said:
I was referring to pro fights but I should have specified that. He did spend the three years prior to his pro career in amateur MMA. In those 3 years he spent a total of 6 minutes and 32 seconds in actual fights. After his first fight which he won in 45 seconds, he waited 13 months to fight again in a fight which he won in 52 seconds. In his final amateur fight which he won in 51 seconds, he waited twenty months to fight again, this time in his first pro fight which won in 17 seconds. That work pace isn't exactly what you'd call setting the world on fire. An athlete's twenties are just so valuable, they must be used in an optimal manner. Even a moderately paced fight schedule would very likely have gotten him into The UFC at least two years earlier. Also keep in mind, the older we get, the slower we learn new physical skills.
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I'm curious to know why he had those long gaps between events & what he was doing.

He might of seen holes in his game that needed to be sewed up or something... so he layed back from doing events to trane. It takes time to transition from Boxing & wrestling into MMA... the stances are very different & so you gotta re-invent yourself. Plus BJJ takes years & years to get to a top level & maybe he was working on that.

& Damn, I just saw him at a meet & greet prior to the Norfolk event. Everyone left & he was just sitting around shooting the breeze with those of us who were still there. Would've been a good time to ask those questions.
 
Wasnt Stipe a golden gloves box champ?
 
Probably so, though this is even more true for Lesnar, Carwin, Couture, Cung Le and others who were over 30 before their first fight. (Realistically, Randy couldn't have started before the first UFC in 1993 when he was already 30, though.)

The trade-off is that you can take a lot of damage in your 20s while trying to perfect your skills and style.
 
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Blackjack said:
The earlier you start (within reason), the higher the level at which you probably peak. This is because the human brain learns more quickly in one's earlier years. For instance, most classical music prodigies start taking lessons extremely young, sometimes as early as 3 years old.

I think you'd have trouble finding a reputable MMA trainer who would say that getting into pro MMA at the age Stipe did is optimal.
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That's true, and it's best if your skillset really comes together when you're in your physical prime. Imagine if Werdum had his current striking AND world-class BJJ in his late 20s....He'd have made a lot bigger impact on the Pride HW scene.

But as I said previously, there's a trade-off in your later years. Rory MacDonald got a really early start, but his wars with Lawler and Wonderboy probably aged him prematurely about 5 years. While I wish he was in the UFC taking Woodley's belt, I'm also glad he's taken an extended break.
 
cmw43 said:
If he came to UFC sooner he might have fought Cain, Ubereem on horsemeat and prime JDS before he went 10 rounds with Cain.

He's come along at the perfect time when everyone else apart from Ngannou is pretty worn out.
Click to expand...

True, though that wasn't something he could predict. Of all HWs, though, Ngannou may have the best future ahead of him...unless he's really 35-40 like Overeem claimed. I don't think there's ever been such an old HW division. The younger HWs from 5 years ago who seemed to have potential (Duffee, Travis Browne, Dave Herman) have been major disappointments. Blaydes also has a bright future as a 26-year old.
 
Stipe was too busy with ballet training.
 
Blackjack said:
The earlier you start (within reason), the higher the level at which you probably peak. This is because the human brain learns more quickly in one's earlier years. For instance, most classical music prodigies start taking lessons extremely young, sometimes as early as 3 years old.

I think you'd have trouble finding a reputable MMA trainer who would say that getting into pro MMA at the age Stipe did is optimal.
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There is something to what you're saying in terms of muscle memory, brain plasticity, etc.

But don't you feel the wear and tear on the body (especially with the way people train and spar and the propensity to get injured) makes combat sports substantively different from non-contact sports or music?

I think it's a tradeoff. We hopefully are living in the era where guys who start "training MMA" from an early age will prove out which approach is optimal.
 
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