Athletes ages differently

[MRudi]

After seeing discussions about Fury and Fedor, I think people to much look after metric, not after the fighters themselves.

Cristiano Ronaldo in his 40 still is great player. Same as Messi. Ronaldinho by this age is 10 years washed.
Lebron is top NBA player in his 40. Wade, McGrady, Rose woulnd't even make it to the bench in this age.

They way the athletes carry themselves makes enourmous difference in later part of their career.
Tyson Fury was far past his prime fighting with Usyk, even though he is 2 years younger.
I know, i know, I said heresy. How could Usyk didn't beat prime Fury?
I don't know, maybe being 200 LBS overweight alcoholic somehow hinders your boxing abilitties and accelarates your aging?

Same with Fedor, he was constantly out of shape, even when you train everyday, having 30% body fat is unhealthy and it shows you, that you don't commit yourself 100% to proper regime.

What your body allows in you 20's, is something entirely different in your 30's.

Prime isn't some static metric, prime time is different for every fighter.
Generally the more professional and more commited fighter, the longer he can mantain their career

 

[SamuraiBro]

Gear helps

 

[Pierce 34]

Gear helps

I drive manual.

 

[Chagaev]

Yeah, athletes are people. They age differently.

 

[theincognito]

Local man learns that athletes who rely on skill last longer than athletes who rely on explosiveness.

Lebron is an exception in that he was so explosive that he's still up there even after losing some.

 

[JakePaulMMA]

Gear helps

I preferred Top Gear

 

[piropiro]

TS is generally correct, but less so about combat sports.

Lifestyle, discipline, avoidance of major injuries, genetics and a little luck, all determine an athlete’s longevity, which therefore is absolutely not a set range.

Whilst physiologically there is an inevitable slow decline from the late 20s onwards, with all the above factors optimized an athlete can arrive at 40 still in excellent competitive condition.

Combat sports however are on the low-longevity end of the scale, because the very nature of the sport is to inflict damage and thus it’s basically impossible to approach 40 without substantial accumulation of wear and tear.

Still, exceptions are always present, and as the approaches to training / recovery / career pacing are also rapidly evolving, it’s becoming more common to see MMA athletes still performing at their highest level in mid-late 30s.

 

[Tokoloko]

Its called genes

 

[ricains_cretins]

Cristiano has good jeans.

 

[Lee Danger]

TBF the Cristiano Ronaldos are weird cases, in football by that age people are hystorically done, i think that the guy is on the very good juice.

 

[AndrewGolota48]

Mike Tyson peaked at like 20-22. Lennox much later on, even though he was older.

 

[LeBron]

Local man learns that athletes who rely on skill last longer than athletes who rely on explosiveness.

Lebron is an exception in that he was so explosive that he's still up there even after losing some.

So you saying I’m not skilled?

 

[wufabufa]

Gear helps

 

[Benoitthegr8]

In the combat sports IMO some of the players who begin competitive matches in their base at pre-teen, judo, wrestling or sambo they will have already have 20-25 years mileage on the body by 30ish and fall off hard. Genetics helps, so does good gear, also you have guys like Hendo or Handy that are an anomaly.

 

[theincognito]

So you saying I’m not skilled?

He has/had good skills but it was the physical gifts that put him over the top. He's not on the Jokic or Curry level of being elite on skill alone.

 

[Blastbeat]

hey look, its a thread where Kevin Lee fits into all of this
guy's in his early 30s and looking like a shopworn mid-40s in the octagon.
its really insane when you see how Dustin was competitive at the highest level until he just retired at 37. he's older than Kevin but was more elite and stayed at that level longer.

the human body is a strange and confusing thing

 

[NoStoneUnturned]

I think in MMA you should have learned 95% of what you need with respect to grappling by 26 to 28. After that, if a fighter wants longevity, it becomes a game of maintaining those skills and adding small tweaks to your overall game. You don't want to learn how to wrestle at 30. Dan Henderson, on Paddy's podcast, said he never wrestled again after 30 or 31, too hard on his body. By having that background in grappling you can hone in on striking for the remainder of your career while maintaining your grappling abilities through short but focused workouts. Makes for a lot less wear and tear.

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

Tony Hawk is still doing his thing at 80

 

[johnsmithjohnson]

I would say taking beatings from professional athletes as a job for a decade would age you more than running around. Maybe I'm wrong and all NFL players have long careers like tom brady.
As far as LeBron on Peds nah. He's been accused of that since age 15. It's just stupid to say when you dig into what he does and the amount he is tested which is constantly. If you've taken care of your body you don't age badly

 

[Harlekin]

Fury has quite a few addictions.
He usually gets slimmer with cocaine. Pills and alcohol are also in the mix.
He's also bipolar, adhd and ocd
Retired for 3 years after Klitschko, because of depression
He's never in good shape optic wise. But his cardio is great given his size.
Hard to say, when his prime is, when he isn't in good shape
Usyk was about the only guy that got him real tired though.