What age do fighters usually 'lose their prime' at?

[Snoowpy]

Early 30's most of the times. I think at 28 you peak physically. And afterwards it's a blend of skill and physical peak/wear tear/mental state all blending into a prime.

Skill elasticity is something I think about a lot. It's getting stuck in your ways and doing what you do while the metagame passes you by. MMA is a different beast because you can rapidly learn new skills that actually will increase your chances of winning. While guys in Boxing all compete for an inch.

 

[Reptile_Bong_Hit]

There’s a ton of variables, but the top 3 IMO:

1. Weight class (age matters less at LHW/HW)
2. Age you started fighting and/or mileage
3. PED usage

 

[Cowboy Kurt Angle]

From 125 to 170 at least in title fights 35

Record of UFC fighters over 35 years old between 125 & 170 in title fights: 2-29. Henry was the latest victim of this, mind you it was a close fight but still once you hit 35 for some reason your bound to lose


Those 2 belong to Tyron Woodley.

 

[jimbob27]

Genetics play a huge factor in this. Aging happens at a cellular level and there are genes which directly control your resistance to oxidative stress. There are some guys that can do everything "right" but still decline quickly, where as others like Randy Couture or Dan Severn can have 3 different sporting careers before they even started MMA, yet still endured way longer than almost all their peers.

 

[krelianx]

From 28 onward decline starts, but slowly. From 35 onwards the decline becomes faster.

 

[HoelHomero]

Just look at A-Level Sports. NFL Athletes often retire early into their 30s. So do Soccer/football guys. Because performance drops are noticeable then.
Your physical biological prime ends somewhere between 30 and 34. Biologically, you are most attractive to females when you're around 25-28, that's your real biological prime usually.
It varies, of course. But that's generally speaking.

 

[Hima Hamrash]

Jones hasn't looked that great in a while. Gane really just didn't give him anything to trouble him with

No, and actually, my take is that Jon would've absolutely done that to any HW in his debut, not Necessarily Gane, any HW.

 

[MindGamingMantis]

37.

 

[Deleted member 587672]

There’s an exception on Sherdog for Fedor and Pride fighters. They were past their prime the instant they lost a fight.

Gonna rustle some jimmies!

 

[xenomorph713]

I think Bas said he felt strongest around 31,so I agree with a lot of other sherdoggers saying around 30-35. Obviously the more you are in wars the quicker you can fall all the way off at once instead of gradually.

 

[Yellowcrab]

Some lose it before 30 (Joe Stevenson) Some lose it mid 30's (Chuck Liddel) and some lose it in their 40's (Glover Texeira)

Just no. Glover wasn't in his prime anymore at 40 years old.

You can be in better shape at 50 years old than at your 20 years old but it still doesn't mean you're in your prime at 50 years old : your potential at 20 years old was still much greater, simply not exploited at that time.

Nobody is in his prime at 40 years old. 35 years old is already close to the limit : 2 or 3 more years at best until a rational fighter should already retire.

 

[L0ki]

Different for every individual.

To get a specific number would require a huge meta analysis (which would be dope to see, honestly).

And the analytics behind it will be absolutely boggling.

 

[L0ki]

Just no. Glover wasn't in his prime anymore at 40 years old.

You can be in better shape at 50 years old than at your 20 years old but it still doesn't mean you're in your prime at 50 years old : your potential at 20 years old was still much greater, simply not exploited at that time.

Nobody is in his prime at 40 years old. 35 years old is already close to the limit : 2 or 3 more years at best until a rational fighter should already retire.

If you're better at 50 than at 20 that, by definition, is your prime.

Potential doesn't mean much.

 

[Talon81]

There’s an exception on Sherdog for Fedor and Pride fighters. They were past their prime the instant they lost a fight.

The age old "a fighter with 50 fights should fall out of prime at the same age as a fighter with 5 fights" argument. Well done, child. No reason for common sense to get in the way.

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

I noticed that many fighters will be in their primes until mid 30s, but some people can even make it to mid 40's like Yoel Romero, Teixiera, Couture, DC.

It seems like the age for UFC fighters decline starts at 35

For many it was when USADA appeared

 

[Yellowcrab]

If you're better at 50 than at 20 that, by definition, is your prime.

Potential doesn't mean much.

Ok so if a boxer started at 50 years old, he's in his prime ? I mean he's better than when he wasn't a boxer ?

 

[sonhow]

Just no. Glover wasn't in his prime anymore at 40 years old.

You can be in better shape at 50 years old than at your 20 years old but it still doesn't mean you're in your prime at 50 years old : your potential at 20 years old was still much greater, simply not exploited at that time.

Nobody is in his prime at 40 years old. 35 years old is already close to the limit : 2 or 3 more years at best until a rational fighter should already retire.

He did his best work at 40. Anyway it was the least significant point of the post. People are individual and this is 100% a fact.

 

[Black Blood]

In general, early to mid 30s is when you hit usually hit the sweet spot of skills and physicality.

The first things to go is your speed and the last thing is your power. The lighter the weight-class the more important speed is, so age makes a huge difference. Power is a bigger factor the heavier you get, so losing some speeds in your 30s isn't such a big deal. A whole, huge list of factors goes into all of this too, so you get huge variances from fighter to fighter.

 

[piropiro]

Around 30 peak athletic potential starts dropping, but experience and technique are peaking so they make up for it, then around 35 the physical performance decreases - plus the accumulated wear and tear - become too much to be compensated by knowledge, so it becomes more and more noticeable.

 

[Lee_]

Longevity is based on a complicated group of factors and varies wildly; injuries is perhaps the most important along with genetics.

Guys like Fedor and Cain went downhill in their early 30s.

Some of the greats found ways with their game to continue at a prime-level for longer than usual. Jordan improved his distance shooting by the time he had lost a step at flying towards the basket. Lebron slowed his decline by getting better at assists (led the league in assists at the age of 35, unbelievable).

In MMA, some fighters actually are better in their mid-thirties because there are so many skills to improve at, and they find a way to overcome lost physicality with improved skills in other areas. Werdum is an example.

Athletes in most elite sports go downhill before 35 (excluding sports like golf of course). The ones we think of that lasted a long time are the exception and not the rule. Almost no one is as fast at 35 as they are at 25; there are parts of your physicality that will have most certainly declined by then.