A Staggering Statistic about Age in MMA.

[x9lonewolf]

I would say isolating age isn’t telling the entire story. What we know about MMA is accumulation of damage, accumulation of injuries, and having a lot of footage are determining factors for fight outcomes. This is why Shogun started struggling during his prime years and other fighters seem to do well later in life.

 

[I WILL CUT YOU]

Then there are drugs like TRT.

Natural my ass

 

[I WILL CUT YOU]

Late 20's is your peak in many sports. Not all, but many, and certainly MMA.

It's your best combination of durability, cardio, skill, experience, and youth.

If you constantly train, you get better skilled as you get older, but physically you're getting slower and less durable.

 

[Franklin U.]

They say for most sports- if not, ALL- that 35 is the checkpoint where athletes are on there way down from their precipice.

So , basically, the heavier weights in mma are more outlier but the overall talent goes hand in hand with that.

 

[Fioretti]

i’m 29 and can confirm i am not in my physical prime lmao

Lol - you are not disciplined!

even 35 seems old. to me it's more 27-33.

31-33 seems to be absolute peak for MMA fighters. 35 is the end of "young adulthood" for a reason.

Awesome threads. Good job by you.

Thanks, braddah.

 

[Filthy casual]

Morning Kombat isn't great in a vacuum but it's some of the better content in MMA we've got, I'm not going to lie. His co-host offers nothing and while Luke is pretty good, he's wrong, uneducated or goes unchallenged a lot of the time. The fact that Luke Thomas is an authority on technical MMA discussion amongst mainstream MMA media really is depressing, he's solid and I respect his longevity and work ethic but he says a lot of wrong shit and nobody has half a mind to question it, disagree or debate. I prefer Jack Slack but the guy doesn't put forth a ton of content.

Their room service diaries are some of my favorite content in MMA right now, credit for that.

Dude, they have a segment called 'Dead Wrong' where you can call out any untruths. Go on there and let him have it

 

[HuskySamoan]

Dude, they have a segment called 'Dead Wrong' where you can call out any untruths. Go on there and let him have it

I've emailed Luke through the years and he's read my stuff from time to time and corrected himself. He even emails me back. He's a consummate professional nonetheless. I'd just like to see more people who are well educated, have trained, value meritocracy etc as analysts so there can be debates and disagreements where a guy like Luke is so often just seen as the authority on all things technical and fight related among non fighter analysts and media members.

Robin Black has made a career out of commentary and doing analyst stuff, Luke is the messiah in comparison.

 

[Filthy casual]

I've emailed Luke through the years and he's read my stuff from time to time and corrected himself. He even emails me back. He's a consummate professional nonetheless. I'd just like to see more people who are well educated, have trained, value meritocracy etc as analysts so there can be debates and disagreements where a guy like Luke is so often just seen as the authority on all things technical and fight related among non fighter analysts and media members.

Robin Black has made a career out of commentary and doing analyst stuff, Luke is the messiah in comparison.

Yeah, having more of the kind of people you're describing on big platforms is something there can't be too much of. Funnily enough I saw BC really go hard at Luke recently on something. Wish I remember what the topic was!

 

[Deleted member 110072]

I'd point out lots of "well preserved" fighters have been caught using PEDs.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Yeah, having more of the kind of people you're describing on big platforms is something there can't be too much of. Funnily enough I saw BC really go hard at Luke recently on something. Wish I remember what the topic was!

I think it was on the debate of competition faced between GSP and Jones? Campbell really isn't knowledgeable on MMA at all, I'm not blown away by his boxing knowledge either but when it comes to MMA he's pretty worthless other than being a counter to the austere grumpy snobbish Thomas, which works, they have good chemistry.

 

[mkt]

Then there are freaks like Couture.

Who fought at LHH and HW. Reading comp 101, man. I've been saying the same thing for a long time. There's never been a champ at LW or below who's older than 33. The same is true in boxing. You'll find some older guys who have done well in heavier weight classes (Foreman, Hopkins) but no 40-year olds beating everyone at flyweight. A small loss in speed/reflexes is huge at the lighter weight classes.

Look at all the LWs who suddenly declined around age 32: BJ, Bendo, Aldo (though a FW), Gilbert Melendez, Pettis, etc. Anyone who thought 40-year old Bendo had any chance in his last fight was delusional.

 

[NoStoneUnturned]

I'm not surprised. EPO Dillashaw (and who knows how many others) agrees.

 

[gspieler]

A few thoughts:

1.Mileage > age
2. Age 25-35, with 10-20 pro fights, seems to be about the sweet spot.
3. Smaller fighters age out younger, because their divisions are more reliant on speed and conditioning.

 

[Deleted member 110072]

Who fought at LHH and HW. Reading comp 101, man. I've been saying the same thing for a long time. There's never been a champ at LW or below who's older than 33. The same is true in boxing. You'll find some older guys who have done well in heavier weight classes (Foreman, Hopkins) but no 40-year olds beating everyone at flyweight. A small loss in speed/reflexes is huge at the lighter weight classes.

Look at all the LWs who suddenly declined around age 32: BJ, Bendo, Aldo (though a FW), Gilbert Melendez, Pettis, etc. Anyone who thought 40-year old Bendo had any chance in his last fight was delusional.

I think a significant issue as well is the greater depth of the lower divisions means its harder to avoid quality comp who are in their physical prime than it is in the higher weight classes, HW especially in the last decade.

 

[Ryan Larose]

I just heard Luke Thomas claim that there's been 30 times in UFC history where a fighter age 35 or older at 170lbs or lower, so from Welterweight to Flyweight fought in a title bout and do you know what the win/loss record is for them apparently? 2 out of 30, that's right, they lost 28 out of 30 times. I think MMA fans don't understand what a fighters prime is or how significant age is. I hear so often "he's only 36" or that a 30 year old is "young" with "plenty of time", no guys, not really.

So here's a fun fact to check. I haven't done the leg work to confirm it but it sounds right, when I compiled the data of every champions age when they won the title and lost the title and created averages...The highest average for the age of a champion when losing the title of any division was Heavyweight and it was roughly 34 years old. The claim that "the heavier weight divisions age slower" I wholeheartedly agree with but I think people fail to mention another huge driving factor why that is, it's because those divisions are incredibly shallow compared to 170lbs and lower.

Credit to Alexander Volkara France of Twitter.

thats not why heavyweights age slower..its the same in boxing...its because their bodies can absorb more damage ...where as the lighterweights usually age wayyy faster...and where as their slower you dont really notice the decline as much either

 

[HOLA]

Who fought at LHH and HW. Reading comp 101, man. I've been saying the same thing for a long time. There's never been a champ at LW or below who's older than 33. The same is true in boxing. You'll find some older guys who have done well in heavier weight classes (Foreman, Hopkins) but no 40-year olds beating everyone at flyweight. A small loss in speed/reflexes is huge at the lighter weight classes.

Look at all the LWs who suddenly declined around age 32: BJ, Bendo, Aldo (though a FW), Gilbert Melendez, Pettis, etc. Anyone who thought 40-year old Bendo had any chance in his last fight was delusional.

Manny Pacquio became champ at 146 pounds (or something like that) when he was 40 years old. Mayweather was champ at the same weight when he was 38.

Juan Manuel Marquez was like 39 when he KO'd Pacquio. Technically that fight wasn't for a title, but Pacquio was obviously a top guy there.

 

[HHJ]

HW is different. speed doesn't matter as much

It does if your style is based on speed.

 

[HHJ]

And MW.

Alex Pereira is 35. GSP was like 36 when he won. Bisping was like 37. Anderson didn't lose to Chris until he was 38 or so.

Glover, Jan, Jon Jones, Liddell, Randy, Werdum, Stipe, Smith, etc...all 35 and older when champs.

Yoel beat Rockhold in a title fight over 35, but didn't get it because he missed weight. Also many thought he won the Whittaker rematch. He was like 40.

Winning doesnt = physical prime. No one would consider GSP at 36 to be in his physical prime. He just managed to win anyway.

 

[C0NCH3TO]

Age matters but mileage is way more important. That’s why I had to bend the knee to Jones. He was undefeated for years but was declining and losing his lhw belt was going to happen sooner than later. The fucker leaves for a few years and wins the most prestigious belt in mma. Un fucking believable. You don’t leave in your 30’s to make a glorious comeback a division above.

 

[Kaiokenrye24]

Hard to believe Wonderboy is 40