UFC Champions by age - HW

[Fioretti]

*= interim champion

HEAVYWEIGHTS

Mark Coleman - 33 -W/L
Maurice Smith - 35W - 36L
Randy Couture - 34W - 34 vacated
Bas Rutten - 34W - 34 vacated
Kevin Randleman - 28W - 29L
Randy Couture - 37W - 39L
Josh Barnett - 25W - 25 stripped
Ricco Rodriguez - 25W/L
Tim Sylvia - 27W - 27 stripped
Frank Mir - 25W - 25 stripped
Andrei Arlovski - 26W - 27L
Tim Sylvia - 30W - 31L
Randy Couture - 43W - 45L
Nog - 32*W/L
Brock Lesnar - 31W - 33L
Frank Mir - 29*W - 30L
Shane Carwin - 35*W/L
Cain Velasquez - 28W - 29L
Junior Dos Santos - 27W - 29L
Cain Velasquez - 30W - 33L
Fabricio Werdum - 37*/38W - 39L
Stipe Miocic - 34W - 36L
Daniel Cormier - 39W/L
Stipe Miocic - 37W - 38L
Francis Ngannou - 34 - 36 vacated
Cyril Gane - 31*W/L
Jon Jones - 35W
Tom Aspinall - 30*W

Youngest - 25
Oldest - 43
Average age when they won the title = 31.84
Average age when they were stripped of, lost, or vacated the title = 34.69

Current MMA Champions by age
UFC Champions by age - LHW
UFC Champions by age - MW
UFC Champions by age - WW
UFC Champions by age - LW
UFC Champions by age - FW
UFC Champions by age - BW
UFC Champions by age - FLW

If they were within a few months (2-3) of their next birthday, I rounded up.

 

[AmericanMMA]

Great post TS. Thanks for sharing. I can imagine this is by far the oldest number average of any weight class.

It gets much older if you take out March 2002-October 2005 Below. I'd like to know the average without them seeing as that was a pretty long time ago and a relatively short period of time.

Josh Barnett - 25
Ricco Rodriguez - 25
Tim Sylvia - 25
Frank Mir - 25
Andrei Arlovski - 26

That was a nice little run of younger guys being Champ. Beyond that there is not much.

 

[Fioretti]

Great post TS. Thanks for sharing. I can imagine this is by far the oldest number average of any weight class.

It gets much older if you take out March 2002-October 2005 Below. I'd like to know the average without them seeing as that was a pretty long time ago and a relatively short period of time.

Josh Barnett - 25
Ricco Rodriguez - 25
Tim Sylvia - 25
Frank Mir - 25
Andrei Arlovski - 26

That was a nice little run of younger guys being Champ. Beyond that there is not much.

LHW is actually 31.066 (rounded to 31.07) - I'm adding the link to the OP

 

[mjfan23]

Further proof the timmeh Vs AA era was best

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

We really need a young 19-23 year old HW in MMA who is a star and super skilled/talented and to be the champ, we have always lacked that. They are always old and then before you know it they are retired.

Boxing has had many incredible young HW's, I remember seeing Lennox Lewis fight when he was 20 years old and he was amazing. We need some young HW in UFC as a champ

 

[Fioretti]

Great post TS. Thanks for sharing. I can imagine this is by far the oldest number average of any weight class.

It gets much older if you take out March 2002-October 2005 Below. I'd like to know the average without them seeing as that was a pretty long time ago and a relatively short period of time.

Josh Barnett - 25
Ricco Rodriguez - 25
Tim Sylvia - 25
Frank Mir - 25
Andrei Arlovski - 26

That was a nice little run of younger guys being Champ. Beyond that there is not much.

33.29 is the average age with those guys discluded.

 

[E Undead]

I always forget Ricco. Dude had the potential to become a longtime UFC champion. His career is a tragedy

 

[AmericanMMA]

I always forget Ricco. Dude had the potential to become a longtime UFC champion. His career is a tragedy

His loss to Nog at Pride Total Elimination 2003 was total bullshit. People don't ever talk about it on here since Nog is so popular, but Ricco won that fight. It would have been such a bad look for Pride had the judges scored the fight correctly..... so they didn't score it correctly.

Don't get me wrong I love Nog and think of him as the better fighter. Ricco was better that night.

 

[E Undead]

His loss to Nog at Pride Total Elimination 2003 was total bullshit. People don't ever talk about it on here since Nog is so popular, but Ricco won that fight. It would have been such a bad look for Pride had the judges scored the fight correctly..... so they didn't score it correctly.

Don't get me wrong I love Nog and think of him as the better fighter. Ricco was better that night.

No shit, a win over Nog AND Couture. Dude could have become a top 5 all time HW.

 

[Rvd Slmr]

Josh Barnett - 25
Ricco Rodriguez - 25
Tim Sylvia - 25
Frank Mir - 25

Me, while reading this :

 

[Zarate]

Me, while reading this :

seriously, thats impressive af. hw champ at 25 in mma.

 

[Pressure Project]

As you can see there’s a trend. Seems to translate to regular life.

The later you were born, the longer you live in your mom’s basement.

 

[LHWBelt]

Great post TS. Thanks for sharing. I can imagine this is by far the oldest number average of any weight class.

It gets much older if you take out March 2002-October 2005 Below. I'd like to know the average without them seeing as that was a pretty long time ago and a relatively short period of time.

Josh Barnett - 25
Ricco Rodriguez - 25
Tim Sylvia - 25
Frank Mir - 25
Andrei Arlovski - 26

That was a nice little run of younger guys being Champ. Beyond that there is not much.

It was but at least Barnett and Sylvia were on roids lol. Did any of the other 3 get caught?

 

[Fioretti]

It was but at least Barnett and Sylvia were on roids lol. Did any of the other 3 get caught?

Ricco and Mir have both popped. Not at that time, I don't think, but eventually.

 

[Dorkman]

We really need a young 19-23 year old HW in MMA who is a star and super skilled/talented and to be the champ, we have always lacked that. They are always old and then before you know it they are retired.

Boxing has had many incredible young HW's, I remember seeing Lennox Lewis fight when he was 20 years old and he was amazing. We need some young HW in UFC as a champ

Just isn't super likely. Big good athletes get directed into other sports at younger ages. We only see those athletes cross to mma if their original sports aspiration didn't work out (ala Hardy etc). And then at that point they don't get the seasoning as a fighter that life long martial artists/fighters get so they just never get as refined as they need to be. That being said, maybe this covid thing could be a blessing in disguise for that down the line where we've gone through a period where traditional team sports just aren't feasible. So maybe those athletes during normal times who would be getting directed into those sports might take an interest in MMA where it's one of the only consistent sports running currently.

 

[zxyss25]

Me, while reading this :

Me while reading this......

Similar reaction, but without the handsomeness of Matt Damon

 

[svmVR2097]

Wasn't Vitor 20 when he won the tournament? A HW title wasn't officially determined until AFTER he fought later that night and the tournament was always used to determine who was the UFC champion before. SO, i still consider him a champion because he won like an hour before the title became official.

 

[Fioretti]

Wasn't Vitor 20 when he won the tournament? A HW title wasn't officially determined until AFTER he fought later that night and the tournament was always used to determine who was the UFC champion before. SO, i still consider him a champion because he won like an hour before the title became official.

He was actually 19 (just a few months before his 20th birthday) when he won the HW tournament, but Mark Coleman literally won the official title that very same night, in the next match. None of the tournament champions are included. Maybe one day we can do a separate series of threads for the average age of UFC tournament champions?

 

[SakurabasEar]

Surprised, well tbh tim sylvia probably looked 40 when he was 15

 

[Fioretti]

Surprised, well tbh tim sylvia probably looked 40 when he was 15

Lol, seems legit.