Fighters past their prime

Jones right before Reyes defended his title against 35 y/o Santos ( 21-6, 18 UFC fights) and 30 y/o Smith ( 32-13, 11 UFC fights). Those guys have so much mileage they should be dead, yet it was the peak of their careers. Same with Dustin against Khabib, same with Jorge now. Numbers don’t lie

Jones is still in his prime, just not in his steroid prime anymore.
 
Prime is such a nebulous concept.
I think we are seeing 'prime' ages move into the older ages (post 30 for light classes, 35 for heavier classes) due to the modernization of the sport. Guys train smarter now because the sport is more mature, they utilise training and nutrition science more, and they want to avoid medical issues like injuries and CTE. Steroids are less prevalent which means you don't go as hard which means less accumulated damage. Fighters generally fight far less often than in the past, which means less intense training camps and less wars.
All this leads to pushing prime age higher in the mdern era.
 
TS might've not been here at the time, but people were saying Fedor was past prime in his win over Brett Rogers.

For people watching Fedor since 2003, it was pretty obvious. Like people who literally watch the fights, not look up fight finder.
 
The previous generation didnt have acess to so many new training methods, nutritionists etc that today fighters do so its expected that their primes last longer
 
That’s a casual word, only casuals use it.. and analysts if they’re fishing for views
 
True but it doesn’t mean we can just write off all the loses of our favourite fighters to that. No fighter should be considered the greatest of all time after 3 devastating stoppage loses, just because some fans think he was past his prime

That is stupid lol.

So having a dominant career for a decade doesn't matter because you eventually lose to three roiders?

Jones's entire career doesn't count because of roids. SOrry, accept it.
 
Or it could depend from the quality of the opponents. Look at MVP. He looks like the best fighter ever against cans and then struggles against decent fighters. Give him a bum opponent and his “prime” magic powers come back. Just like Fedor returned to crushing cans after his brief Strikeforce career

Wait, are you saying Fedor fought guys after S-force, as good as his wins before it?

Are you retarded lol? If you dont know anything about MMA, don't post.

He went on a retirement tour and then left the fight game.

Good to know the UFC cans...errr, sorry champs he beat before were never good lmao.
 
I don't agree about the quality of Fedor's opposition before SF. Actually, regardless of what you think of his opponents, he's about as clear a case as you can find of a fighter being past his prime, since his reflexes are gone and his chin has turned from iron to glass. MVP is quite atypical of the kind of fighter who is described as being past his prime. In fact, I can't recall anyone suggesting that he is.

Fedor is clearly past his prime now and has a glass chin like you said, but wasn’t the reason why he lost to Werdum, Big Foot and Hendo. He lost because he underestimated Wedum’s grappling. Big Foot was just way too big for him and he was destined to get caught because of his brawling, looping wide punches like he did against Hendo.

I know MVP isn’t past his prime, he’s just a good example how a step up in competition can change a fighters performance
 
That is stupid lol.

So having a dominant career for a decade doesn't matter because you eventually lose to three roiders?

Jones's entire career doesn't count because of roids. SOrry, accept it.

So guys in Pride were clean? Fedor might of had his super speed, punching power and reflexes because he was roided af. Then he went to SF, were some testing already existed and “fell out of his prime”. It’s possible
 
Wait, are you saying Fedor fought guys after S-force, as good as his wins before it?

Are you retarded lol? If you dont know anything about MMA, don't post.

He went on a retirement tour and then left the fight game.

Good to know the UFC cans...errr, sorry champs he beat before were never good lmao.

No that’s not what I’m saying. He had few good opponents in Pride lol Big Nog and
Cro Cop but most of his were against cans or not bad, but not elite fighters. Pride was more entertainment than sport and Fedor didn’t fight top contender after top contender like GSP, Jones or Anderson. Actually Fedor had only 4 title fights in Pride (2x Big Nog, Cro Cop and Hunt)
 
So guys in Pride were clean? Fedor might of had his super speed, punching power and reflexes because he was roided af. Then he went to SF, were some testing already existed and “fell out of his prime”. It’s possible

It is called level playing field.

Not cheating, like Jones has done.

Also, Fedor was tested when he competed in the US before S-force. Hell, he was tested in Sambo when he competed for years.
UFC testing at the time was basically a joke as well.
 
No that’s not what I’m saying. He had few good opponents in Pride lol Big Nog and
Cro Cop but most of his were against cans or not bad, but not elite fighters. Pride was more entertainment than sport and Fedor didn’t fight top contender after top contender like GSP, Jones or Anderson. Actually Fedor had only 4 title fights in Pride (2x Big Nog, Cro Cop and Hunt)

Fedor had plenty of top 5 and top 10 wins.Title fights don't mean squat, and you are leaving out tourneys as well.

Your contender comment is meaningless. Jones has fought plenty of randos, and don't even start about Anderson.

Unless 9 UFC champs don't count as "elite competition" lol.

Fedor fought randos between his legit fights because he fought many times a year in his heydey.
 
Everyones different. Lawler and Jorge are two good examples of resurgences. Just examples of the highest synergy between physical fitness and knowledge. You see it come and go in team sports because they play so often, a name for it being "in the zone." Fighter zones are measured in years instead of weeks or seasons though.

Its why dominant fighting champions are so impressive, their equivalent to their zones, called primes in this case, last a long time. They can be followed by slumps and resurgences equally long lasting. Many good and bad examples of this. As a controversial example, how many primes has Vitor Belfort had?

Anyway, truth is I have no idea what Im talking about.
 
Fedor had plenty of top 5 and top 10 wins.Title fights don't mean squat, and you are leaving out tourneys as well.

Your contender comment is meaningless. Jones has fought plenty of randos, and don't even start about Anderson.

Unless 9 UFC champs don't count as "elite competition" lol.

Fedor fought randos between his legit fights because he fought many times a year in his heydey.

Name 9 UFC champions Fedor has won, because I can’t remember that many.

Jones has only fought the best fighters in the world at that moment, not even one random guy.

Bader, Shogun, Machida, Rashad, Rampage, TRT Vitor, Chael, Gus x2, DC x2, Glover, OSP, Smith, Santos, Reyes

Nobody has a even slightly comparable resume to JBJ
 
Everyones different. Lawler and Jorge are two good examples of resurgences. Just examples of the highest synergy between physical fitness and knowledge. You see it come and go in team sports because they play so often, a name for it being "in the zone." Fighter zones are measured in years instead of weeks or seasons though.

Its why dominant fighting champions are so impressive, their equivalent to their zones, called primes in this case, last a long time. They can be followed by slumps and resurgences equally long lasting. Many good and bad examples of this. As a controversial example, how many primes has Vitor Belfort had?

Anyway, truth is I have no idea what Im talking about.

It’s a slippery slope. Basically what it comes to is

good performance = prime
bad performance = not prime
 
Name 9 UFC champions Fedor has won, because I can’t remember that many.

Jones has only fought the best fighters in the world at that moment, not even one random guy.

Bader, Shogun, Machida, Rashad, Rampage, TRT Vitor, Chael, Gus x2, DC x2, Glover, OSP, Smith, Santos, Reyes

Nobody has a even slightly comparable resume to JBJ
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Name 9 UFC champions Fedor has won, because I can’t remember that many.

Jones has only fought the best fighters in the world at that moment, not even one random guy.

Bader, Shogun, Machida, Rashad, Rampage, TRT Vitor, Chael, Gus x2, DC x2, Glover, OSP, Smith, Santos, Reyes

Nobody has a even slightly comparable resume to JBJ

1.) You can google yourself, don't be lazy.

2.) From what list, a bunch of middling MWs like Chael, Smith, Santos. Who have Gus and Reyes ever beaten?
OSP was never best at anything. DC is x1, not 2. NC due to roids doesn't count.

And yes, his resume would be excellent, if not for the fact that it is tainted by roids and the fact that he towers/outreaches 95% of his opponents, instead of testing himself at HW.
 
I think you can't discuss the term "Prime" without "Peak"

- fighter X's Prime could be from Age 24-31
- with fighter X peaking at age 28


Guys like Fedor obviously Peaked in pride, but he still retained much of his speed,reflexes, and durability from his earlier days in that Werdum fight. It was just a matter carelessness, he was still in his prime he just stopped fighting smart.

A fighters peak could be described as the combination of athleticism and skill reaching their highest points in unison, while a fighters prime could be considered the time when a fighter truly came into their own, they developed a winning formula/skillset despite not being at the true peak of their skills. You know a fighter is past their prime when they can't consistently perform the same successful formula they used to. It could be injuries, diminished speed, power, etc.

You hear all the time "Fighter X wasn't in his prime because he lost to Y", a fighters prime or peak has nothing to do with wins or losses, it's based on their own individual growth.

Out of the fighters you mentioned, these 2 are 100% past their prime with Jorge & Stipe not far behind.
Yoel
DC

-Jorge getting a WW title shot off of beating Nate diaz is an absolute joke
-Yoel getting a title shot after losing 3 of his last 4 is also a true anomaly

Just because a few guys are having success at an older age doesn't mean it is anywhere close to the norm. It has more to do with MMA politics than peak fighting skills.
 
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Guys who take their first loss really late in their careers or win for a very long period of time without ever losing,tend to not be the same after. That momentum and invincibility aura is a hell of a thing.
 
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