Thirty six

[DapperDave]

In the context of UFC title aspirations, thirty six seems pretty old.

Volk is 35, Ortega 33, Holloway 32, Yair 31, Movasr 30, Lopes 29, Ilia 27.

Chandler 38, McGregor 36, Poirier 35, Gaethje 35, Moicano 35, Oliveira 34, Hooker 34, Makhachev 32, Holloway 32, Pimblett 29, Arman 27.

Usman 37, Belal 36, Leon 33, Brady 31, Shavkat 29.

Adesanya is 35, Strickland 33, Dricus 30, Khamzat 30.

Pereira 37, Ankalaev 32, Rakic 32, Jiri 31.


I just spent 20minutes looking up ages, and skipped a few names because i got bored.
I did this because i saw a Conner story. It said he is 36. I was like, wow, 36, when did that happen?

36 plus genetics and clean living seems doable.
36 on hookers and blow not so much.

Seems like youthful speed may be more important in lower weight classes?

Some of these dudes need to book a fight if they ever want to do it again. Tick tick tick.

It's crazy that Holloway is only 32.

 

[Shaolin Alan]

TL ; DCare

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Too many old guys clogging up my MMA. Where are all the young, New Breed™ types?!

 

[Rataria]

30's can still easily be young. But beware, one can age rapidly over a couple of weeks out of nowhere , even while doing most things right, while being mentally, spiritually, financially sound. Aging comes out of nowhere in the 30's. Its insane. In a way , men hit the wall much worse nowadays.

 

[wufabufa]

Well back in the day the sport was raw and if you were young and a good athlete it would carry you pretty fucking far. Experience and knowledge take a long time to accumulate so I don't think it's surprising to see guys who are out of their physical prime still at the top. Nowadays everyone is proficient at most aspects of MMA. Gotta have substance to your game or else one of these geriatrics is gonna eat your lunch.

 

[Chagaev]

Not everybody can be Erick Silva.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

I mean, at 36 or more you've likely been training mma for 15+ years by then. And that's if you start at 21 which is kind of a late start compared to boxers and wrestlers who are 20+ years deep by then (due to them being Olympic sports, most of the elite guys have been at it since 10-12 years old if they ever hope to compete for a medal)

29-32 are usually the prime years when you have the most 50/50 split between your athleticism and your experience level, and after that you're doing whatever you can to mitigate the loss of speed and reflexes by training/competing as intelligently as possible.

Look at Burns vs. Brady from a couple weeks ago. Burns at 38 and Brady at 31, the 7 year difference was very apparent.

Burns wasn't getting steamrolled or anything but he was getting out hustled consistently at every turn. And over the course of 25 minutes, those micro-victories by Brady added up to give him a pretty clear decision win.

Fighting (or any 1 on 1 contact sport, really)
is a young man's game

 

[jeskola]

Teixiera, Couture, Hendo, Yoel, Severn all had success well past 36 and those are just the names off the top of my head.

 

[Rockapotomuss]

19-23 pre prime
24-27 prime athleticism
28-33 prime skill
34-39 can still
40+ don’t

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

Teixiera, Couture, Hendo, Yoel, Severn all had success well past 36 and those are just the names off the top of my head.

HW is different than the other divisions. You can be old. Severn is from the old days when the sport was different. Hendo had success but wasn't at the top of the hill, he was close. Yoel is a different kind of cat altogether.

 

[Chubi]

Aldo is 38, just so everybody knows.

 

[dildos]

Are you sure that is his age or the amount of times he has been accused of rape??

 

[generalyum]

I feel like age is slightly less of a factor at HW

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

In the context of UFC title aspirations, thirty six seems pretty old.

Volk is 35, Ortega 33, Holloway 32, Yair 31, Movasr 30, Lopes 29, Ilia 27.

Chandler 38, McGregor 36, Poirier 35, Gaethje 35, Moicano 35, Oliveira 34, Hooker 34, Makhachev 32, Holloway 32, Pimblett 29, Arman 27.

Usman 37, Belal 36, Leon 33, Brady 31, Shavkat 29.

Adesanya is 35, Strickland 33, Dricus 30, Khamzat 30.

Pereira 37, Ankalaev 32, Rakic 32, Jiri 31.


I just spent 20minutes looking up ages, and skipped a few names because i got bored.
I did this because i saw a Conner story. It said he is 36. I was like, wow, 36, when did that happen?

36 plus genetics and clean living seems doable.
36 on hookers and blow not so much.

Seems like youthful speed may be more important in lower weight classes?

Some of these dudes need to book a fight if they ever want to do it again. Tick tick tick.

It's crazy that Holloway is only 32.

I'm 39 now and in the last couple of years have really noticed there are fewer and fewer moments of "oh, that guy/champ is my age". Like you say, there are several notable exceptions and possibilities, but especially for career-long mma guys, 36 is near the end of the ride any way you slice it, if you haven't already started slipping.

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

19-23 pre prime
24-27 prime athleticism
28-33 prime skill
34-39 can still
40+ don’t

lol Love it.

 

[Domitian]

Speed, reflex, and reaction time are very important in fighting. Moreso at lower weight classes than higher ones. It's no surprise the win/loss statistic in title fights at LW and under is something like 2-30 for fighters 35 and older.

 

[Ibm]

mileage does not equal age

 

[Leonard Haid]

I was expecty a thread about thairty six, but I got one about thirty six.

 

[Neck&Neck]

Hookers and blow will keep a man feeling young and fit

 

[wildchild88]

I just turned 16 and could beat the shit out of all fighters listed I'm OP.