Why are so many of MMA's top fighters in their late 20s and 30s?

[superpunch]

The top of every weight class is dominated by guys in their 30s. That's abnormal. You shouldn't even be seeing a lot of guys in their late 20s. The sport should be dominated by guys Sage Northcutt to Max Holloway's ages. Instead, Sage and Max are seen as an anomalies.

I think what happens is that fighters only fight 2 times a year. And it takes fighters multiple years to get to the top and earn the right to fight top guys. And when they're not good enough to be at the top anymore, it still takes years to drop down the rankings.

Compare that to the NFL. At 23 years old, you're thrown against top competition immediately. At 27-28 years old, when you're declining, you start losing against top competition and, after a season of 16 games and sucking in them all, you're immediately kicked out of the league. Whereas in the UFC, since you only have 2 "games" a year, it takes 4-5 years for people to realize that you suck in those 16 games. And the real guys that should be at the top -- the 23-26 year olds that would destroy you -- aren't even allowed the opportunity to fight you yet.

 

[Langinbang187]

Depends on the sport, and which position they play obviously.

In the NHL a lot of defenseman don't reach their peak until their mid-late 20's, same goes for goaltenders who usually peak around 30. I think a lot of it is mental.

 

[BobbyHillComedian]

Because science

People are playing later in nearly every sport

Nutrition/training is worlds better than even 10-15 years ago

 

[Aegon Spengler]

When your physical gifts are still on point and your mental game has peaked you reach your prime in MMA.

 

[dawzz]

The top of every weight class is dominated by guys in their 30s. That's abnormal. You shouldn't even be seeing a lot of guys in their late 20s. The sport should be dominated by guys Sage Northcutt to Max Holloway's ages. Instead, Sage and Max are seen as an anomalies.

I think what happens is that fighters only fight 2 times a year. And it takes fighters multiple years to get to the top and earn the right to fight top guys. And when they're not good enough to be at the top anymore, it still takes years to drop down the rankings.

Compare that to the NFL. At 23 years old, you're thrown against top competition immediately. At 27-28 years old, when you're declining, you start losing against top competition and, after a season of 16 games and sucking in them all, you're immediately kicked out of the league. Whereas in the UFC, since you only have 2 "games" a year, and it takes 4-5 years for people to realize that you suck in those 16 games. And the real guys at the top -- the 23-26 year olds that would destroy you -- aren't even allowed the opportunity to fight you yet.

Sage is not dominating shit he lost to thribault gouti lol

 

[Sammy Bananas]

Boxing is like this too. I'm sure where the difference is because I do see your point.

 

[Mondo Freaks]

People they got tired of fixing tires and bouncing drunks.

 

[superpunch]

Depends on the sport, and which position they play obviously.

In the NHL a lot of defenseman don't reach their peak until their mid-late 20's, same goes for goaltenders who usually peak around 30. I think a lot of it is mental.

I honestly believe that there are 23-27 year old guys out there that would destroy the champions at every weight class. They're just not on anyone's radar yet because they haven't had enough time to move up the rankings. I don't think the champions are really the "best" fighters in the world.

 

[Rvd Slmr]

MMA fighters don't rely as much as other athletes on pure athleticism, technique and fight IQ can be more important. Also it's usually a sport that people get into later in life than ball games, where you basically start playing in primary school.

 

[0verlord]

Wasn't Juice a champ at 23?

 

[Fight Professor]

Experience makes a lot of difference when you compete only twice a year.

 

[Turtlejuice]

It's the sweet spot between physical peak and mental peak, I guess.

 

[Rygu]

Experience is a thing. Not everyone has Jon Jones level talent.

 

[faustian]

UFC doesn't know how to develop young talent

 

[DatGuyFTW]

Lol what a dumb thread. Its more about skill, fight IQ, heart, and chin than it is about age. Age plays a part, sure, but you put waaay too much emphasis on it buddy. Even in the NFL there are 30 year old wide receivers still at the top of their game.

 

[cmw43]

I honestly believe that there are 23-27 year old guys out there that would destroy the champions at every weight class. They're just not on anyone's radar yet because they haven't had enough time to move up the rankings. I don't think the champions are really the "best" fighters in the world.

You ever trained? It takes years of training to get your skills to an elite level.

If you're that good you'll come up fast or start getting noticed. Once guys get that good they get with big gyms and thats when the buzz starts. There's not many killers out there training with nobodies.

 

[Cpt Migraine]

The anomalies are just that.. there is a lot more to fighting than just a physical peak of hormones..

It gets you a long way but if you are 100/60% physically/mentally at 21 your 80/100% 36 year old self will wipe its ass with the 21 year old version..

 

[Post 2 Decision]

Because if you turn pro at like 20 years of age before you even get a sniff of a big promotion you're gonna need to have like 10 pro fights which could take over 4 years. Then you're already 24 and have to move up the rankings in the top organization.


In other pro sports like hockey, soccer, baseball, football, etc. You're already developing at a young age and getting scouted

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

MMA isn't like being a running back, they have to learn a lot more skills in a lot more disciplines and that takes a long time. MMA is also not something that most people do as children so they have to learn more and they generally start later. It's not that hard to figure out.

 

[JKS]

I think all of that has to do with when someone starts to develop their skill set for the sport. If you look at Basketball, Football, Hockey and Baseball pretty much everyone who is a pro athlete in those sports has been involved in the sport on a amateur level, through school and then turned pro. So most athletes in those sports have been doing the sport for anywhere from 8 to 15 years. Even if it's on a junior level it still counts a lot for development.

MMA on the other is quite different as there is no amateur system. Fighters come from other backgrounds and then go into MMA, takes a few years experience before they make it to a top organization and develop their skills. And because of how competitive the talent pool is with around 500 fighter in UFC it takes a long time to make it to the top. Also, i've noticed the because the sport of mma is not as organized in the amateur system as other pro sports, it takes fighters longer to commit to the sport. Guys have other jobs and do mma as well and then once they have success they start to take it more seriously.