Current MMA Champions by age

[Fioretti]

It’s not just Fedor though. GSP had his fight with Hendricks and walked away from the sport at age 32.
Jose Aldo is only 35, yet he’s 5-5 in his last 10–and that’s only possible by making adjustments to his game and dropping weight classes to 135, which would’ve been unthinkable 10 years ago. Why? Because he’s been fighting since he was 18 and has a ton of mileage. In his first decade of fighting he was 25-1. In his second decade, he’s 5-6.
BJ Penn? Debuted at age 23. He went 16-7-2 (4 of those 7 losses are to GSP and Frankie) in his first decade, and went 0-7 in his second decade. Fell off a cliff at age 33.
See the pattern?

I agree that Moose is an exception, but exceptions are just that: they’re exceptions, not the rule. It does seem clear that he’s declining now, and his recent opposition is kind of questionable (2 declining WWs in Rory and Lima, and I question exactly how good Carvalho or Salter are). We’ll have to keep an eye on Moose. I’m a big fan though, so hopefully he can keep fighting at a decently high level for awhile. But I doubt it.

You also have to consider that the longer you fight, the more tape there is to study, and the better the competition gets. Those guys you listed are also exceptions, by the way, not the rule, and their losses aren't due to loss of muscle strength/density, speed, and reflexes, which is what being "old" or "out of prime" entails. Their competition caught up to them. The physical declines start around 36-37, and will obviously be worse in those plagued with injuries.

 

[GOATtalks]

We don't see younger champions because it takes a bunch of fights to climb the rankings.

Some fighters only fight once or twice per year, 3 nowadays is very active.

Plus I think most fighters don't turn pro until they're like 20 at least.

We don’t see younger champions because it takes time to develop the necessary skills and experience to be the champ in this era. If you push a guy to fast he will break. Look what happened to Aaron Pico. He had all the makings of a champion and he still might become one but he needs time.

 

[Fioretti]

Just Saying...

HW: Francis Ngannou - 35
HW (Interim) Cyril Gane - 31

Average for UFC HW Champs would be - 33

Gane is included in the divisional rankings for UFC HWs, but I don't list interim champs as current champs. The current champs thread is actually the most realistic as far as average age, because in the divisional threads, I'm only listing their age they were when they initially won the title or interim title. Not their current age, how long they held the title, or what age they were when they lost it.

 

[Fioretti]

We don’t see younger champions because it takes time to develop the necessary skills and experience to be the champ in this era. If you push a guy to fast he will break. Look what happened to Aaron Pico. He had all the makings of a champion and he still might become one but he needs time.

MMA is also an endurance sport. People tend to forget this. Endurance athletes typically peak in their early to mid 30s, and some can even show improvement into their early to mid 40s.

 

[randumo24]

Just Saying...

HW: Francis Ngannou - 35
HW (Interim) Cyril Gane - 31

Average for UFC HW Champs would be - 33

That isn't odd or anything. Unless I'm mistaken, the only current UFC Champion under 30 is Rose & she is basically a prodigy considering she won it the first time at 25. It's pretty much commonplace in the UFC for the top fighters to not reach the top until 30+.

 

[GOATtalks]

MMA is also an endurance sport. People tend to forget this. Endurance athletes typically peak in their early to mid 30s, and some can even show improvement into their early to mid 40s.

Great point

 

[BFoe]

You also have to consider that the longer you fight, the more tape there is to study, and the better the competition gets. Those guys you listed are also exceptions, by the way, not the rule, and their losses aren't due to loss of muscle strength/density, speed, and reflexes, which is what being "old" or "out of prime" entails. Their competition caught up to them. The physical declines start around 36-37, and will obviously be worse in those plagued with injuries.

They’re not exceptions. I’ve given you Fedor, GSP, Penn, and Aldo.
—How about JDS? Debuted about age 22. In his first decade, he went 18-4. In his second decade so far, 3-5. Hard to say exactly when his decline started, as he had those brutal losses to Cain. JDS definitely didn’t seem like the same guy when he fought Stipe the 2nd time. Which was in 2017, in his 11th year as a pro, just like Fedor, GSP, Also, and BJ.
—Rampage Jackson: debuted age 21. First decade 30-7, second decade 8-6. Decline seems to have first been noticeable in 2011-2012, at age 33 or so. About 12 years into his career.
—Shogun: also debuted about age 21. Went 20-6 in first decade, 5-5 after. It’s a bit tougher to see when Shogun’s decline started, but it appears to be around age 32, about 11 years into his career.

I’m sure a lot of posters here love the idea of listing the geriatric champs we have in so many divisions today, and use that as proof positive that “FeDoR SuX,” but it just doesn’t hold up.

 

[spinup]

2. 32-33 is pretty much prime age for a championship level MMA fighter.

Not for Fedor fans though.

 

[Fioretti]

They’re not exceptions. I’ve given you Fedor, GSP, Penn, and Aldo.
—How about JDS? Debuted about age 22. In his first decade, he went 18-4. In his second decade so far, 3-5. Hard to say exactly when his decline started, as he had those brutal losses to Cain. JDS definitely didn’t seem like the same guy when he fought Stipe the 2nd time. Which was in 2017, in his 11th year as a pro, just like Fedor, GSP, Also, and BJ.
—Rampage Jackson: debuted age 21. First decade 30-7, second decade 8-6. Decline seems to have first been noticeable in 2011-2012, at age 33 or so. About 12 years into his career.
—Shogun: also debuted about age 21. Went 20-6 in first decade, 5-5 after. It’s a bit tougher to see when Shogun’s decline started, but it appears to be around age 32, about 11 years into his career.

I’m sure a lot of posters here love the idea of listing the geriatric champs we have in so many divisions today, and use that as proof positive that “FeDoR SuX,” but it just doesn’t hold up.

You've listed a few out of thousands. Those are the exceptions. GSP also wasn't declining. He got out when the competition started catching up to him, and before he lost his belt. Fedor wasn't declining, he just started losing when he consistently fought top competition. Aldo didn't physically decline, he got KO'd by a perfect punch and lost to killers.

You're also not considering special vitamins. A lot of these "declines" you're claiming go hand in hand with more stringent testing. Which goes hand in hand with more injuries/less recovery. So many factors involved, but the fact remains that a man's physical prime is between the ages of 27-35, and physical declines typically start around age 36. I know you love Fedor, but you can't change math and science to claim he was old and out of shape at 33. History and science show 31-33 being peak age for MMA fighters.

 

[RockyLockridge]

1. Yan is a baby.

2. 32-33 is pretty much prime age for a championship level MMA fighter.

I've always thought this to be the case, the fighters with lengthy title reigns are the ones that are already holding the title before that age, Anderson Silva probably being the only exception

 

[Fioretti]

I've always thought this to be the case, the fighters with lengthy title reigns are the ones that are already holding the title before that age, Anderson Silva probably being the only exception

Check the links in the OP. I've done every champ and interim champ in UFC history, for each division, and only used their age when they initially won the title. It doesn't factor in how long they held it or how old they were when they lost it. I think you'll be surprised.

 

[BFoe]

You've listed a few out of thousands. Those are the exceptions. GSP also wasn't declining. He got out when the competition started catching up to him, and before he lost his belt. Fedor wasn't declining, he just started losing when he consistently fought top competition. Aldo didn't physically decline, he got KO'd by a perfect punch and lost to killers.

You're also not considering special vitamins. A lot of these "declines" you're claiming go hand in hand with more stringent testing. Which goes hand in hand with more injuries/less recovery. So many factors involved, but the fact remains that a man's physical prime is between the ages of 27-35, and physical declines typically start around age 36. I know you love Fedor, but you can't change math and science to claim he was old and out of shape at 33. History and science show 31-33 being peak age for MMA fighters.

I’m not saying that Fedor—or any of these fighters I listed—are “old and out of shape.” We’re talking about when fighters decline from peak form. Fedor was accumulating injuries, which caused his grappling to suffer and decline. His striking also got noticeably sloppier and more limited. The man retired a mere 2 years after that Werdum loss, and accumulating injuries was a major factor in that. He’s spoken of it at length. He was definitely still fast as fuck in 2010-2012, he hadn’t lost his power; but he was no longer in his fighting prime due to injuries, damage, and physical wear and tear. I don’t know if there’s any point in revisiting this idea that Fedor didn’t consistently fight top competition, as it’s very misleading to say that, but we stalemated on it last time we visited that idea.
2 of the 3 fighters that Fedor lost to in Strikeforce, were right there fighting in PRIDE alongside him—so no, we cannot say that competition simply caught up to him. It’s just not accurate.

Special vitamins? Who did I list that has failed a PED test? I think Rampage was on TRT a short time, but that’s all I recall. Special vitamins are more a factor for fighters who don’t follow the pattern I’ve laid out: it’s why Anderson was in the matrix at age 37, why Jones has held on to his record, why Hendo was winning belts at 40…
Sure quitting steroids can affect injuries and recovery. So can being in your 30s instead of your 20s.

There’s a ton of factors here: fighting style, how long they did certain other sports, when they debuted, how active they’ve been, how much damage has been taken, injuries and surgeries…
Maybe Aldo was never the same after his motorcycle accident. Maybe Mir was never the same after his. Maybe Shogun was never the same after his knee surgery. Maybe GSP was never the same after his.
And so on.
There are some basic patterns which we see again and again, but these need to be taken on an individual fighter basis, while taking all of those factors I listed into account.

 

[Fioretti]

I’m not saying that Fedor—or any of these fighters I listed—are “old and out of shape.” We’re talking about when fighters decline from peak form. Fedor was accumulating injuries, which caused his grappling to suffer and decline. His striking also got noticeably sloppier and more limited. The man retired a mere 2 years after that Werdum loss, and accumulating injuries was a major factor in that. He’s spoken of it at length. He was definitely still fast as fuck in 2010-2012, he hadn’t lost his power; but he was no longer in his fighting prime due to injuries, damage, and physical wear and tear. I don’t know if there’s any point in revisiting this idea that Fedor didn’t consistently fight top competition, as it’s very misleading to say that, but we stalemated on it last time we visited that idea.
2 of the 3 fighters that Fedor lost to in Strikeforce, were right there fighting in PRIDE alongside him—so no, we cannot say that competition simply caught up to him. It’s just not accurate.

Special vitamins? Who did I list that has failed a PED test? I think Rampage was on TRT a short time, but that’s all I recall. Special vitamins are more a factor for fighters who don’t follow the pattern I’ve laid out: it’s why Anderson was in the matrix at age 37, why Jones has held on to his record, why Hendo was winning belts at 40…
Sure quitting steroids can affect injuries and recovery. So can being in your 30s instead of your 20s.

There’s a ton of factors here: fighting style, how long they did certain other sports, when they debuted, how active they’ve been, how much damage has been taken, injuries and surgeries…
Maybe Aldo was never the same after his motorcycle accident. Maybe Mir was never the same after his. Maybe Shogun was never the same after his knee surgery. Maybe GSP was never the same after his.
And so on.
There are some basic patterns which we see again and again, but these need to be taken on an individual fighter basis, while taking all of those factors I listed into account.

I agree on most counts, but we both know Fedor lost the first time in his career that he fought 4 top 10 guys in a row. Then went 3-3 when he kept it consistent with 6 top 10's in a row. That's no coincidence, my dude. He had some hand injuries, but I'm not aware of others? Were there some more serious ones that I don't know about? He hadn't taken much damage in his career at that point either, and the hand injuries sure as shit weren't preventing him from throwing bombs. Lol! The guys we're talking about never popped, but that doesn't mean they weren't on some shit. An undefeated Russian killer? The 2nd best MMA wrestler of all-time with unlimited cardio, absurd strength, and amazing reaction time? Shogun who seemed to look fat, weak, and sloppy as soon as he stopped fighting in Japan? Aldo (one of my favs) who had mfs arrested in Brazil for trying to test him, and started his career 25-1? This sport was built on PEDs, my dude. You have to know that, I know you know that. Many many factors, yes, but these guys didn't fall out of their primes at ages 31-33. Either their competition caught up to them, injuries caught up to them, or they had to change their supplement routine. Could be a combination of all of them, but they sure as shit weren't magically weaker, slower, and sapped of endurance in their early 30's. That's all I'm saying.

 

[BFoe]

I agree on most counts, but we both know Fedor lost the first time in his career that he fought 4 top 10 guys in a row. Then went 3-3 when he kept it consistent with 6 top 10's in a row. That's no coincidence, my dude. He had some hand injuries, but I'm not aware of others? Were there some more serious ones that I don't know about? He hadn't taken much damage in his career at that point either, and the hand injuries sure as shit weren't preventing him from throwing bombs. Lol! The guys we're talking about never popped, but that doesn't mean they weren't on some shit. An undefeated Russian killer? The 2nd best MMA wrestler of all-time with unlimited cardio, absurd strength, and amazing reaction time? Shogun who seemed to look fat, weak, and sloppy as soon as he stopped fighting in Japan? Aldo (one of my favs) who had mfs arrested in Brazil for trying to test him, and started his career 25-1? This sport was built on PEDs, my dude. You have to know that, I know you know that. Many many factors, yes, but these guys didn't fall out of their primes at ages 31-33. Either their competition caught up to them, injuries caught up to them, or they had to change their supplement routine. Could be a combination of all of them, but they sure as shit weren't magically weaker, slower, and sapped of endurance in their early 30's. That's all I'm saying.

Back and knees for Fedor from what I’ve read, and that caused problems with his grappling. Before his return in 2015, he mentioned that he healed old injuries in his time off. And he definitely seemed willing to grapple in that Jaideep fight, but the left knee for sure resurfaced as he had it wrapped throughout the entire HW GP snd had surgery on it after the Rampage fight.

And yeah, we know steroids were and are rampant, and there have been rumors about Aldo (who I’m also a big fan of) for years. All I’m saying is that prime involves a whole host of factors. Even before he left Japan, Shogun was criticized for not being dominant enough against ancient Mark Coleman. Shogun came to the UFC and won the belt, but had a billion knee surgeries in 2010 or so. It’s hard to judge.
In any event it sounds like the usual: we agree on some things, disagree on others, but I appreciate the time and effort you put in to making the thread. Cheers.

 

[Fioretti]

Back and knees for Fedor from what I’ve read, and that caused problems with his grappling. Before his return in 2015, he mentioned that he healed old injuries in his time off. And he definitely seemed willing to grapple in that Jaideep fight, but the left knee for sure resurfaced as he had it wrapped throughout the entire HW GP snd had surgery on it after the Rampage fight.

And yeah, we know steroids were and are rampant, and there have been rumors about Aldo (who I’m also a big fan of) for years. All I’m saying is that prime involves a whole host of factors. Even before he left Japan, Shogun was criticized for not being dominant enough against ancient Mark Coleman. Shogun came to the UFC and won the belt, but had a billion knee surgeries in 2010 or so. It’s hard to judge.
In any event it sounds like the usual: we agree on some things, disagree on others, but I appreciate the time and effort you put in to making the thread. Cheers.

Fair enough. I didn't know or hear anything about Fedor's knees or back. Something to look into I suppose. Cheers, mang.

 

[Benoitthegr8]

Gane is included in the divisional rankings for UFC HWs, but I don't list interim champs as current champs. The current champs thread is actually the most realistic as far as average age, because in the divisional threads, I'm only listing their age they were when they initially won the title or interim title. Not their current age, how long they held the title, or what age they were when they lost it.

Right on

 

[Benoitthegr8]

That isn't odd or anything. Unless I'm mistaken, the only current UFC Champion under 30 is Rose & she is basically a prodigy considering she won it the first time at 25. It's pretty much commonplace in the UFC for the top fighters to not reach the top until 30+.

I’m definitely not surprised, 28-34 is most frequently a fighters physical and cognitive prime, when they tie together the skills, experience, and physicality, usually anyway. Obviously there are anomaly’s, like Shogun Rua or Jon Jones, who peaked much earlier, then the opposites like Hendo and Randy that age like quality booze...lol

 

[Aurelian]

Fight mileage is real. Rory MacDonald is 32 right now.

 

[randumo24]

I’m definitely not surprised, 28-34 is most frequently a fighters physical and cognitive prime, when they tie together the skills, experience, and physicality, usually anyway. Obviously there are anomaly’s, like Shogun Rua or Jon Jones, who peaked much earlier, then the opposites like Hendo and Randy that age like quality booze...lol

Yeah, you can probably count on one hand the number of fighters in the modern era who were skilled enough like Bones & Rose that were able to actually win championships in their early mid 20s. With so many things to learn in MMA, you need to either be a prodigy like the aforementioned two, or a serious physical freak like Brock was to be able to make it to the top in a short amount of time.

 

[HoeBrogan]

You've listed a few out of thousands. Those are the exceptions. GSP also wasn't declining. He got out when the competition started catching up to him, and before he lost his belt. Fedor wasn't declining, he just started losing when he consistently fought top competition. Aldo didn't physically decline, he got KO'd by a perfect punch and lost to killers.

You're also not considering special vitamins. A lot of these "declines" you're claiming go hand in hand with more stringent testing. Which goes hand in hand with more injuries/less recovery. So many factors involved, but the fact remains that a man's physical prime is between the ages of 27-35, and physical declines typically start around age 36. I know you love Fedor, but you can't change math and science to claim he was old and out of shape at 33. History and science show 31-33 being peak age for MMA fighters.

One possibility is that he got lazy and unmotivated after fighting his whole life and also being financially stable