Is Tony Ferguson still in his prime ?

[560ti]

I feel like mma is alittle weird. There's guys atheistic primes when they're bodies are at their bests. But then there is a different kind of prime that comes with experience. Kind of like how guys like Cormier and Edgar seem to keep getting better. So tony might be there too. He's not young but he has a lot of experience

Since MMA is so skilled based, experience is huge.

Your vertical leap and 40 yard dash don't mean shit when your locked in a small ass cage. The 10,000+ hours of technical drilling/sparring along with catalog of amatuer/semi pro fights, now that means a ton. For MMA early to mid 30s isn't a big deal assuming you don't have a laundry list of surgeries/injuries.

 

[Oj21]

Edgar might not be the best example, he was just brutally KOed for the first time and looked like he may have lost a step.

Maybe, but he did embarras yair before that and was winning the Ortega fight as short as it was.

 

[Oj21]

Since MMA is so skilled based, experience is huge.

Your vertical leap and 40 yard dash don't mean shit when your locked in a small ass cage. The 10,000+ hours of technical drilling/sparring along with catalog of amatuer/semi pro fights, now that means a ton. For MMA early to mid 30s isn't a big deal assuming you don't have a laundry list of surgeries/injuries.

Yeah totally agree. Early 30s seems to be the peak almost. I mean the top of most divisions are older.
Guys like Cruz, Edgar, Ferguson, woodley, lawler, Thompson etc

 

[llperez22]

Very few athletes that rely on reflexes have their best careers in their mid 30s. The average age of a player in the NBA is 26. The average age of running backs in NFL is 25.4. Tony is actually at the tail end of his prime, best case scenario, and probably just past his prime. He is still winning, but he is not in his physical prime.

I think the age stuff you brought up is a really bad way of judging primes. Those ages are brought down because every year there is a draft in those leagues where tons of young guys come in and many don’t stick resulting in short careers of just a few years. That doesn’t mean they maxed out on their prime abilities, they just weren’t good enough but the result is being the age down.

Better way of judging prime is take all the guys who were actually long term successful athletes and then see what age range they were at their best performance wise. Not sure about nfl, but it is known in nba that 28-32 is when basically everyone demonstrates their best seasons before trending down

 

[dirtysalsa]

Yes. Age isn’t the only thing that decides how prime a fighter is. Beyond retarded to think that since look at Yoel/Whittaker.

 

[12ga.]

Tony didnt even start until like 26. It's mileage not age a much. He's fine. Probably has 4-5 "prime" fights left in him.

 

[Ultra O’Dia]

I feel like mma is alittle weird. There's guys athletic primes when they're bodies are at their bests. But then there is a different kind of prime that comes with experience. Kind of like how guys like Cormier and Edgar seem to keep getting better. So tony might be there too. He's not young but he has a lot of experience

i think a ton of it has to do wih the style of the fighter. wrestlers/grapplers age better. it isnt too hard to stay strong and conditioned, and learn more to become sharper technically. It IS hard to hang on to speed and reflexes, which, when coupled with the broken knuckles, hands, wrists, beat up shins, knees, ribs and concussed brain make a striker’s prime end a lot quicker.... in my opinion, at least.

 

[Legendary]

Yes he absolutely is. 34 isn't that old-- a lot of athletes have their best years in their mid 30's.

34 is old for 155. No getting around that

Tony didnt even start until like 26. It's mileage not age a much. He's fine. Probably has 4-5 "prime" fights left in him.

He started at 24, which is average. You say mileage but the guy has 26 fights, and he has taken a good amount of damage in most of them.

 

[fortheo]

34 is old for 155. No getting around that

It's not too old. The champ is 34

 

[ixRanGzeNxi]

Yes he absolutely is. 34 isn't that old-- a lot of athletes have their best years in their mid 30's.

Yeah, but in the lighter divisions' mid 30's is like being in your 40's in heavier divisions. First to go with age is speed and reflexes, which just happen to be two of the most crucial components to being successful in the lighter divisions (IMO).

Also, as far as I am concerned...Tony is no the verge of exiting his prime. It's not like he avoids a lot of damage during his fights and he has been through some wars. If he gets smashed by Khabib, he will probably not look too hot afterwards (probably still ranked top 5-10).

Win or lose though, I think after a fight or two more we will probably start seeing a pretty dramatic shift in his ability to string together a streak.

 

[brian]

34 is Prime age in the UFC unless you started young & took alot of damage like Aldo has.

 

[Juventud]

There will be more excuses from Khabib fans than Tony fans if Khabib loses.

 

[Legendary]

It's not too old. The champ is 34

Can you name one lightweight champ who was successful after age 34? The Prime for that weight class is 25-30 years old.

BJ Penn won the title at 29 lost it at 31

Frankie won it at 28, lost it by 30.

Bendo won it at 27, lost the title at 29 and proceeded to have pretty good rest of UFC career. Proceeds to lose in Bellator at ages 33-34

Pettis got it at 25, lost it by 27.

RDA got it at 29, lost it before his 31st bday

Eddie 32, is now 34 and looks to be declining.

Conor won it at 26/27 and probably would have lost it by now if he would have fought the contenders.

You just watch, Tony Ferg will eventually start to lose, and by age 36/37 he will be a shell of himself.

 

[mkt]

Edgar might not be the best example, he was just brutally KOed for the first time and looked like he may have lost a step.

Yep. At some point declines in your body (cumulative damage, decrease in speed/reflexes, etc.) overtakes the advances you've made in skills. Edgar is definitely there...sadly. He's still had an amazing career, though, especially for a 36-year old FW who has fought more rounds than any other UFC fighter.

 

[mkt]

34 is Prime age in the UFC unless you started young & took alot of damage like Aldo has.

Maybe for HW, LHW and possibly MW. It's certainly not for the lighter weight classes, where very small differences in speed can make or break you. The same has always been true in boxing. You don't see any George Foreman (mid-40s) comebacks in the flyweight division.