"Mixed martial arts is a young man's game" - Dana White

[Joshuagilbert91]

Till or Adesanya are the next in line. Till is a huge WW, he's amazing and Adesanya is a phenom.

 

[deev]

Bellator is an old mans game though

 

[Thug Rose]

mma fighters first start training very late, around age 25-30. unlike other sports where athletes start training when they are kids.

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

Quite the straw man, you're changing the argument. You said 36 isn't old. I am saying compared to other major sports it definitely is, as the average age of those athletes are well below 36.

You do understand the concept of averages right?

I just proved you're wrong the best in every one of those sports is comparable to mma champions. You're hiding behind this averages bullshit there's obviously more top end talent over a 10 year bracket 19-29 then a 7 year bracket 30-36 if you spread it over hundreds or thousands of people, BUT you opened with the best guys are old here, and every other sport has its best with comparable ages.

 

[CerebralKnievel]

The average "prime" is early 30's and the oldest champs were Olympian medalists/great genetics. I wouldn't consider any of the champs "old".

The line from the thread title is Dana's built on excuse to leverage fighters he doesn't want to pay into accepting lesser contracts.

 

[Joohnmatrix]

I'm so offended reading this can't believe my age bracket makes me an old man in some kids eyes. How fast it all goes!

 

[Deleted member 510653]

Hendo on unlimited TRT could probably fight until his 60s lol. I woudln't be surprised if Romero is fighting in his 80s and looks as shredded as ever.

Well he'd probably look a lot older and be a lot slower..

 

[A.S. Deep]

Well he'd probably look a lot older and be a lot slower..

And he'd still somehow be made of metal and flying knee KOs haha.

 

[BobbyHillComedian]

Dana is stupid like a fox. What do you want him to say, that the best fighters are really guys in their late 30s who will be retired in a few years? He has to keep hyping up the next wave of talent.

 

[CerebralKnievel]

I just proved you're wrong the best in every one of those sports is comparable to mma champions. You're hiding behind this averages bullshit there's obviously more top end talent over a 10 year bracket 19-29 then a 7 year bracket 30-36 if you spread it over hundreds or thousands of people, BUT you opened with the best guys are old here, and every other sport has its best with comparable ages.

Yeah, the fact is, experience, self awareness and wisdom of training and execution play a huge part. Young men may have the stronger physical potential but rarely do they have the minds to capitalise on it. Plenty of all stars in all sports in their later years.

Andre Agassi peaked when he should have been declining.

Tom Brady was arguably the best QB at 38.

Roger Clemens was still an all star long past most guys' careers.

 

[Deleted member 510653]

And he'd still somehow be made of metal and flying knee KOs haha.

By then they might have rocket packs and have some kind of ped that can be undetected in tests but who knows if the sport or usada will still be around by then you know?

 

[Deleted member 510653]

Bellator is an old mans game though

Not necessarily. They got some young bucks there..

 

[bad seed]

The more athletically demanding the sport, the younger its champions.

Note how all the winners above 30 are in bullshit equestrian events.

 

[Lone Wolf]

A man looks his best between 32-35.
Rockhold got his POLO thing then.
Jouban
Beckham
Pitt
Gosling
Cooper

etc

In terms of athletics, they lose their speed around 30. Stamina is different but explosiveness they go downhill by 30. We have seen in in Ronaldo and Messi. Strength is the last to go.

I'd say the prime of MMA fighter is 28-35. Just because you don't need to sprint and run a lot. As long as ur reflexes stay sharp

 

[dabouv]

The heavyweight can go longer. The lighter the weight, the more youth is favored. Prime is late 20's and early 30's. About 34 the declined steepens. Grapplers do better than strikers. There are exceptions and really good supplements can help old guys but I'd say 26-32 is peek for most.

 

[West Linn]

30 isn't old. That's like prime for a male.

40 is old.

 

[TommyGunz]

Only because of USADA

 

[ClosetVitorFan]

Back in the 1960s-70s when you were 33 you were an old man on his eve of retirement when it comes to pro sports.

 

[sabretitan]

Its Dana FUCKING White speaking/thread

 

[YOLOGOGOPLATA]

Compared to other sports MMA is an old man's game.

Very true actually. MMA takes so long to develop skills that it seems like many peak around 30-31. By that time most NFL players are out of the league, most NBA players are past their prime (they often peak 22-25) and many MLB players (especially pitchers who lose their velocity - look at what happened to Felix Hernandez this year) have diminished skills. Obviously exceptions to all of my examples but MMA guys seem to peak later because of the extreme difficulty of mastering multiple skill sets. Its kinda like an nfl player who lined up on defense and offense. Or a baseball player pitching and hitting.