Is Mid 30s really that old in the MMA world?

nah. dudes during the TRT therapy era were lighting motherfuckers up in their 40s. Randy with good wrestling control and spinach was winning LHW and HW belts well into his career. with USADA gone I think we will see a resurgence of some fighters. think vitor. the shelf life of fighters will improve.
 
Mystic Mac Miller said:
I was watching an interview with DC, Chael, and Brett Okamoto and DC kept harping on how it will be a foolish choice for Jones to fight Aspinal or Pavlovich due to their age. Apparently, despite being in their early 30s, Pav and Aspinal are "young dogs" but Jones is old?

I did not get it.
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He’s got a point it’s foolish.

let’s strip the belt and let fresh contenders fight for it then

I guess the rules changed now for ufc champions
 
Mystic Mac Miller said:
I was watching an interview with DC, Chael, and Brett Okamoto and DC kept harping on how it will be a foolish choice for Jones to fight Aspinal or Pavlovich due to their age. Apparently, despite being in their early 30s, Pav and Aspinal are "young dogs" but Jones is old?

I did not get it.
Click to expand...
Depends on the mileage

Jones has been fighting for 15 years

He never took much damage, but a lot of wear and tear could be an issue.

Rory McDonald was past his prime at 30. DC's lasted until he was like 37-38. So it all depends.
 
Eat My Teep said:
Yes. In the 34-36 range life hits you like a ton of bricks.

Take note of when every UFC fighter falls out of title contention/starts losing skids. It's almost exclusively after the age of 34, and certainly 35, 36, etc., with very very very few exceptions.

I'm 36 now. At 32-33 I scoffed at competing in the master's division of BJJ tournaments or my age bracket of MT tournaments, when applicable.

Now I get a headache just thinking about competing with a 22 year old fresh out of college wrestling in a tournament who will heal from me heel hooking him in 6 hours and be back on the mats, but if he gets top side control on me my ribs will hurt for a month.
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They've also got stem cells, peptides, testosterone, perfect diets, all types of therapies.

So that timeline can be extended a bit.

The mileage might be a bigger issue than just biological age for a lot of athletes.
 
Depends how your body holds up. Some fighters go to steep decline in their late 30's while some can maintain elite performance until early 40's but its not common.
 
Pico jony lost vs DC santos and reyes. Gifted decisions..he and canner are the filth of mma.
 
Killer Kadoogan said:
nah. dudes during the TRT therapy era were lighting motherfuckers up in their 40s. Randy with good wrestling control and spinach was winning LHW and HW belts well into his career. with USADA gone I think we will see a resurgence of some fighters. think vitor. the shelf life of fighters will improve.
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TRT is basically the fountain of youth. It's like having the benefit of age in terms of experience, with the physicality of a 20 something year old
 
Depends on the miles and wear and tear but no. MMA fighters should be peaking in their 30s.
 
JustBreed said:
TRT is basically the fountain of youth. It's like having the benefit of age in terms of experience, with the physicality of a 20 something year old
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100% and well put. the physicality comes back, i think there is even more power, concentration, and all of that added experience? it's a win-win. i think we are going to see many great matchups again, fire power, and legends ride off in a blast. i can't wait. seeing hendo, vitor, randy have those kinds of resurgences and relevancy was super exciting to watch.
 
It's about size and weight classes.
Shorter distance and faster fighters in the lower weight classes.
Therefore reaction times are more important there.
Also Heavyweights can do less repetitions and have a higher center of gravity.
They need longer to improve in skill

34 at Flyweight is very old.
34 at LHW is ok
34 at Heavyweight you are totally fine and prime

Also strikers usually lose their chin earlier and wrestler their knees
 
Eat My Teep said:
Yes. In the 34-36 range life hits you like a ton of bricks.

Take note of when every UFC fighter falls out of title contention/starts losing skids. It's almost exclusively after the age of 34, and certainly 35, 36, etc., with very very very few exceptions.

I'm 36 now. At 32-33 I scoffed at competing in the master's division of BJJ tournaments or my age bracket of MT tournaments, when applicable.

Now I get a headache just thinking about competing with a 22 year old fresh out of college wrestling in a tournament who will heal from me heel hooking him in 6 hours and be back on the mats, but if he gets top side control on me my ribs will hurt for a month.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you just destroyed your body doing BJJ lmao. Should have done Muay Thai or kickboxing
 
Killer Kadoogan said:
100% and well put. the physicality comes back, i think there is even more power, concentration, and all of that added experience? it's a win-win. i think we are going to see many great matchups again, fire power, and legends ride off in a blast. i can't wait. seeing hendo, vitor, randy have those kinds of resurgences and relevancy was super exciting to watch.
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100%, I'm all for it. It does suck for the guys that'll choose not to use it for whatever reason (ie, long term health implications), but i think that'll be an issue only for a couple years until it becomes the new normal.

I was going to make a thread earlier asking who the guys might be thatll emerge as benefiting from a relaxing of testing the most, but it's really pretty hard to call. Super interested to see what the landscape looks like in 18 months. Maybe Weidman will go on a fucking rampage lol
 
JustBreed said:
100%, I'm all for it. It does suck for the guys that'll choose not to use it for whatever reason (ie, long term health implications), but i think that'll be an issue only for a couple years until it becomes the new normal.

I was going to make a thread earlier asking who the guys might be thatll emerge as benefiting from a relaxing of testing the most, but it's really pretty hard to call. Super interested to see what the landscape looks like in 18 months. Maybe Weidman will go on a fucking rampage lol
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100% and LOL on weidman going on a rampage. who knows though? Vitor went on a fucking rampage and some. And then I knew when he showed up looking visibly deflated for the weidman title fight, that this was going to go really really bad. i am all for it as well. lets see what fighters have great resurgences again. let's see some epic come backs, the skills, the power, the unbelievableness of it all. it is going to be awesome, i think this is one of the best things UFC has done in a long time.
 
As most have mentioned, it isn't just the age it's the additional mileage on the body. Not only is Jones physically leaving his prime and not as strong or fast as Aspinall and Pavolvich, he became champion 3+ years before either man began their pro career. Aspinall has yet to see a 3rd round in his career. Pavolvich has been in one 3 rounder and one 5 rounder.

I'm too lazy to look it up or count it up, but I'm pretty sure jones cage time in his last ten fights is greater than either Aspinall or Pavolvich entire careers.
 
Mystic Mac Miller said:
I was watching an interview with DC, Chael, and Brett Okamoto and DC kept harping on how it will be a foolish choice for Jones to fight Aspinal or Pavlovich due to their age. Apparently, despite being in their early 30s, Pav and Aspinal are "young dogs" but Jones is old?

I did not get it.
Click to expand...
Wow even DC making excuses for Jones. This mentality just sounds so diva to me. UFC fighters never used to worry about stuff like that. Imagine thinking “no I can’t fight him, he’s too young for me”. WTF.
PS: If UFC and USADA part ways, 30+ will not be a problem anymore.
 
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