Yoel is 40 and Woodley is 36 in 2 months?

[DanMMAleague]

Plus Hendo recently almost became champ at 47 off TRT, Bisping became champ at 38 and Randy Couture's success in his 40's is well documented.

What is it about MMA that lends itself to older people being so successful at it?

Are older people less health conscience and able to embrace the extreme sport aspect better?

Sport for sport it has some of the oldest athletes.

 

[iwhoopedbatman]

DC too, even if he is just champ by default.

But Woodley, DC and Romero all have a pretty small fight history for their ages. Main reason they haven't hit major downslides yet.

 

[RiseAboveHat]

Experience is a huge factor in any combat sports. Combined with all the guys you mentioned being able to stay in competitive shape, leads to more success

 

[DLX]

Notice all the fighters mentioned are wrestlers.

The lesson to take from this, don't start off with pussy sports like boxing and kick boxing. Get on the mat.

Edit: Bisping landed a lucky shot and held the division up for over a year, so he doesn't count.

 

[DanMMAleague]

DC too, even if he is just champ by default.

But Woodley, DC and Romero all have a pretty small fight history for their ages. Main reason they haven't hit major downslides yet.

It's still impressive that they are able to keep up athletically.

 

[hugemmafan22]

DC too, even if he is just champ by default.

But Woodley, DC and Romero all have a pretty small fight history for their ages. Main reason they haven't hit major downslides yet.

All of them have had extremely long combat sports careers in wrestling. Along with most only fighting high level comp since they entered mma.

 

[BNC]

Damn Henderson is almost 50 now

What a badass

 

[#1StockTrader]

You cant compare C level athletes with B or A or A+ level athletes. The higher the grade level the more younger your prime is.

A+ prime is around 28
A Prime is 30
B+ Prime 32
B Prime 34
C+ Prime 36
C Prime 38

Nascar drivers Prime are probably the lowest at 46

 

[KoreanZawmbie]

Wrestlers embrace the grind

 

[BigMuffler]

Notice all the fighters mentioned are wrestlers.

The lesson to take from this, don't start off with pussy sports like boxing and kick boxing. Get on the mat.

Gay Hugging is REAL fighting!

 

[dickcheney]

Black don’t crack

 

[WARinsertname]

Notice all the fighters mentioned are wrestlers.

The lesson to take from this, don't start off with pussy sports like boxing and kick boxing. Get on the mat.

Translates well into the other arts. Physically demanding sport that bridges into every aspect of MMA.

Downside is being shopworn and injury prone in the knees/hips/back.(Weidman/Cain/etc...)

 

[Oj21]

It's one of the biggest sports where experience is just a huge factor, they know how to deal with all types of guys. Also, atleast in the heavier division like mw and up, they always say power is the last thing to go. I mean look at hunt vs blaydes, hunt is 20 years older and still had blaydes in trouble in the beginning. Same with werdum, 40 years old and still the 2nd best in the division

 

[DanMMAleague]

All of them have had extremely long combat sports careers in wrestling. Along with most only fighting high level comp since they entered mma.

To be fair Anderson Silva has recently been competitive at the elite level and he's in his 40's.

 

[Mebetter]

Lennox Lewis, Holyfield, and George Forman were all too boxers later in age. Tom Brady, Jerry Rice, and Peyton Manning played later in life. Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey jr, and Cal Ripken were good late in life. Kobe was good until he retired. Elite athletes are elite athletes

 

[orasul499]

Because the sport is only 25 years old. Hell hendo was around that age when the ufc started. Eventually there will be kids training mma from a young age who will come up and have as much training as these 40 year olds at the age of 25. But for now a lot of these guys start training late so by the time they are good enough to win a beltt they are old.

 

[Sansnom]

DC too, even if he is just champ by default.

But Woodley, DC and Romero all have a pretty small fight history for their ages. Main reason they haven't hit major downslides yet.

Mileage is a real thing. That's why guys like Aldo who is only 31 looks burnt and close to retirement.

Most guys who are still in great shape in their late 30s/early 40s are the ones who started late or don't have as many fights.

 

[Leone510]

That POS gets rewarded for missing weight on purpose because he knew that fake belt did not mean s_hit as well as he would fight for the real one even if he missed weight. He got his weight down to where it gets ugly, about 3 or 4 pounds out and stopped. He was not sucked in at the weigh in or anything and let Luke drain himself then robbed him of his title shot. Luke was so drained he could not process the questions he was being asked after the weigh in and ole shyster not only slithers his way out of being caught using steroids because of the tainted supplement myth but claims he could not make weight in 6 weeks because of short notices and spits on the interim belt and gets a shot at the real one. The integrity of the UFC is in Hell in a handbasket. the fight was announced 1 month earlier but Yoel knew about the fight 2 weeks prior and he could not get no closer than 3 pounds? He should have had to be wheelchaired to that scale but he came out like he was at the beach and let's remember he had 2 hours and he drops .3 lbs and was not sucked in at all but only .3 pounds? come on man

 

[iwhoopedbatman]

All of them have had extremely long combat sports careers in wrestling. Along with most only fighting high level comp since they entered mma.

Lol at calling wrestling combat sports. It require tremendous endurance and hard work, but you don't get even a fraction of the brain trauma you receive in boxing, kickboxing etc.. Unless you destroy your body, which they didn't, it's just not that debilitating for a guy entering MMA.

The high level comp is true, and if they get to 30 fights fighting comp like this, they'll be complete shells of themselves. But they won't fight that long anyway.

 

[Sansnom]

I am 34 this year and plan to turn professional once I have successfully conquered my masturbation demons and learned how to fight, "martial arts style". I look forward to continued success well into my 50s, and I put it down to not starting puberty until I was 17

I guess some people just peak later?

Also wasn't Nolan Ryan like 75 when he retired?