What happened to the next generation of super MMA fighters that were promised 7 years ago?

[King Pun**]

7 years ago it was well accepted that kids were going to grow up watching MMA and practicing all aspects of it to perfection. We were suppose to have all young champions that grew up knowing and being proficient in all aspects of MMA. Fast forward to today none of the champs represent this demographic...what happened I ask you what happened?

 

[MMA_enthusiast]

Ah don’t Whitaker, Holloway and Cogar (before he lost to TJ) represent this new generation of super fighters?

 

[Bubba32]

USADA happened.

 

[CrimsonFan]

The evolution of mma is extremely overrated.


The elite guys from 10 years ago would still be elite if they didnt age. Hell some of the guys still are top 10 and theyre visibly way worse


The oldschool guys wernt doing it for money and fame though. Those guys enjoyed the fight.

Id actually bet on the old school guys if we had a time machine

 

[Boomb]

There's no money in professional MMA.

 

[NILLI]

I guess most of the parents still don't want their children to get hit/kicked in the head at the age of 7.

There are better (more lucrative) sports to go to with way less possibility of an injury.

 

[Wariowokecancel]

Bullshit. Look at the rankings especially lighter classes.

 

[Killroy]

Demetrious Johnson?
TJ Dillashaw?
Robert Whittaker?
Conor McGregor?

What the hell are you talking about

 

[DaleBoca]

Yeah, people grew up and realized getting punched in the face for a living isn’t ideal.

 

[Source]

7 years ago it was well accepted that kids were going to grow up watching MMA and practicing all aspects of it to perfection. We were suppose to have all young champions that grew up knowing and being proficient in all aspects of MMA. Fast forward to today none of the champs represent this demographic...what happened I ask you what happened?

They all realized they didn’t like getting punched in the face for money.

 

[savemgs]

The evolution of mma is extremely overrated.


The elite guys from 10 years ago would still be elite if they didnt age. Hell some of the guys still are top 10 and theyre visibly way worse


The oldschool guys wernt doing it for money and fame though. Those guys enjoyed the fight.

Id actually bet on the old school guys if we had a time machine

I've always been of this opinion. Honestly I think a guy like Ken Shamrock could still have decent success in the UFC. I mean is it that difficult seeing Ken getting top control on that no time kid and probably winning a decision.
He could probably do it to a lot of the so-called top contenders.
I miss young Kenny......

Heck Tito Ortiz could probably do the same thing that Ken does to even more people.

with how bad the division is right now I see him just being second fiddle to DC.

A young Hughes could probably do the same thing as tito.
And I'm sure Pat miletich could be a 15 contender.

 

[Thc Sargon]

Erick Silva is this guy, soon!

 

[savemgs]

Bullshit. Look at the rankings especially lighter classes.

Demetrious Johnson can crusher.

TJ Dillashaw two dimensional fighter.

Max Holloway beat up Aldo who had his soul taken from him from by Conor McGregor.

Conor McGregor never defends his title....

By the way I'd like to mention that I like all the people I just listened.

 

[latoya johnson]

Erick Silva is this guy, soon!

Slow down. We have no idea what the future holds for him yet.

 

[3sumrock]

The lighter weight class like fw,lw,bw,ww and mw has evolved so much since the pride and old UFC day.one dimensional fighter like Matt Hughes was able to rule the ww division for a long timr but he wont even be top 10 in today ww division.and today elite bw is more skilled than almost if not all the fighters from 10-15 years ago

 

[CrimsonFan]

I've always been of this opinion. Honestly I think a guy like Ken Shamrock could still have decent success in the UFC. I mean is it that difficult seeing Ken getting top control on that no time kid and probably winning a decision.
He could probably do it to a lot of the so-called top contenders.
I miss young Kenny......

Heck Tito Ortiz could probably do the same thing that Ken does to even more people.

with how bad the division is right now I see him just being second fiddle to DC.

A young Hughes could probably do the same thing as tito.
And I'm sure Pat miletich could be a 15 contender.

No doubt

These new training methods or whatever evolution people think has happened isnt going to stop a Tito Ortiz takedown.


Ken, i dunno. Hes had so many injuries and shit i dont even know what his prime was.

Mma did evolve alot from the early 90s. I dont think Shammy from ufc 1 would do very well.


He wouldnt definately be on the roster though, and there are way worse current HWs.

I just dont think he would be top 10. Tito would

 

[3sumrock]

Demetrious Johnson can crusher.

TJ Dillashaw two dimensional fighter.

Max Holloway beat up Aldo who had his soul taken from him from by Conor McGregor.

Conor McGregor never defends his title....

By the way I'd like to mention that I like all the people I just listened.

Lol both Tj and Dj are the most skilled fighter we've ever seen."two dimensional" wtf is that?
Max Holloway is legit
And Conor is "one" of the best striker in mma history.

 

[savemgs]

Demetrious Johnson?
TJ Dillashaw?
Robert Whittaker?
Conor McGregor?

What the hell are you talking about

An Elementary student size can crusher.

A two-dimensional fighter.

Bobby Knuckles another two dimensional fighter.

A one-dimensional fighter.

 

[gevoudane]

I think the next generation turned out more about training then it did the actual age of the fighter.

 

[Guy LeDouche]

I have a theory with getting started young in Martial arts/fighting...I belive the current widely accepted thought process is the younger you get started in fighting the better.
My belief is that this is False.

The wear and tear throughout the younger years of training is severely detrimental to longevity. While one may have acquired a greater skill level and set due to training those skills earliar. The accumulation of damage and injury acquired at such a young age will lead to a quicker peak and/or weaker body.

Also the psychological setback of having injuries is harder to deal with at a younger age when thinking about the future and mortality. I saw a few others in this thread mention realizing that getting hit in the face isn't a lucrative career choice. I completely agree with this. One would have to love fighting completely to continue.

Anyway I'm sorry for the essay, but this is my 2 cents on why we haven't seen a larger influx of younger MMA fighters recently, thank you for reading.

TLDR; Early start in fighting leads to higher wear and tear accumulation by prime. Mentally and physically.