Why have older fighters done so well in recent years compared to past eras?

I'm going to tackle it from a different perspective. Population distribution. Millennials are the largest population generation of history, we've never had a larger world population. But every generation afterwards has been smaller. So it's just a numbers game, there's a bigger group to pick better fighters from, and with their skills/experience was enough to beat odds.

Still, for every aged fighter still holding on there are countless that fail into their 30s. We just have selective memory to pick the guys still hanging along. Guys like Volk are getting by with their well roundedness. Even WMMA like Shevchenko. No different from the past where Couture pulled off upsets with the right plans for his opponents.
 
im-in-my-prime-funny.gif
 
FlowchartRog said:
It is bizarre, I don't really understand it tbh.

And this isn't athletes here that are benefitting from advances in modern supplements, training, medicine etc, just normal people.

The weird part this current aging better generation is arguably eating worse, way more junk and processed stuff.
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The hack is while that is true, we also have much more access today on information on how to train and eat better than people did 40 years ago. For people who want to keep in shape and age better it's never been easier, but most of society is always going to be lazy slobs, so that's what you see.

I'm in my 30s, most of my friend group from college have gone into full dad bod mode, aside from me and another buddy, because we actually go out of our way to stay in shape and not eat shit everyday.
 
There are supplements that aren’t considered PEDS nowadays that can help you recover faster between hard training.
 
Nutrition and better “supplements.”

Healthy eating being common knowledge and completely accessible is kind of a new thing.
 
I'm 64, started training at The Pit in 1987. Had a wrestling, rodeo and football background. Was a pro rodeo cowboy for 16 years and had a lot of injuries. Started training people in kickboxing in 1994 and have never stopped training hard. I stopped lifting weights when I was 48 and took off all the excess muscle weight. Went from 230 to 200. It's let me train at higher pace in my old age. I moved to Hawaii 8 years ago and was in the water 7 days a week. I would do a 2 hour mma conditioning workout 3x a week, followed by a 30 min rough water swim on the North Shore. I would surf the other 4 days, if there were no waves, or if it was blown out, I would paddle for 2 hours. I had to change thing up 2 years ago. I had a bad wipeout at Vland and fractured my neck and had some nerve damage. Now I do 3 mma conditioning workouts a week and paddle once, I get my hip replaced in September and will be starting over again.
 
Younger people are softer overall. While still tough for being MMA fighters, the younger men lack heart and grit. They may have more skill but they were raised in a softer era so they do not have that grit that older people do. It is also why you see so many younger fighters cry in post fight interviews after a basic win.
 
Staph infection said:
Younger people are softer overall. While still tough for being MMA fighters, the younger men lack heart and grit. They may have more skill but they were raised in a softer era so they do not have that grit that older people do. It is also why you see so many younger fighters cry in post fight interviews after a basic win.
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Because MMA requires a diverse skill set and that takes time to develop. Other sports have a narrower and more specific skill set. Speed, reaction time, and agility are bigger difference makers in those sports. But those qualities are the things most negatively impacted by time. Whereas skill, technique, strategy, and tactics can and often do get better over time.
 
Because advancements in medicine and knowledge have come a long way and its going to get even crazier. Once stem cells and other geneomics get more mainstream and cheaper, we'll have guys much older still competing even outperforming much younger guys, probably wont happen anytime soon but it will most certainly happen.
 
All these pretty answers about training and diet when we all know damn well it's because USADA is gone. It's 100% that and I love this way.
 
FlowchartRog said:
The weird part this current aging better generation is arguably eating worse, way more junk and processed stuff.
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It's not weird mainly because your premise is incorrect. The current generation eats better than previous ones. There is a better understanding of nutrient. Things like rest, mental health, and substance abuse (alcohol being a big one) are better understood.

There is a lot more to nutrient than whether a food is processed or not. Also, people barely had any hobbies back then, so they just ate out of boredom. (also, what generation are you referring that did not eat processed junk? Gen X and Baby Boomers all ate processed food in their adulthood - you'd have to go very far back for that not to be the norm).
 
Fact Checker said:
Advances in health, training, sports medicine etc.


People in general are just aging better. A few decades ago it was uncommon for fighters in their early thirties to do well. Now many are not even hitting their physical prime until that age.

You can see this across the board in all sports: football, basketball, bodybuilding, etc
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Agreed. I heard someone explain it once, how your knowledge keeps increasing but the body ends up declining, there's a point where physical decline outweighs the increased knowledge.
 
Staph infection said:
Younger people are softer overall. While still tough for being MMA fighters, the younger men lack heart and grit. They may have more skill but they were raised in a softer era so they do not have that grit that older people do. It is also why you see so many younger fighters cry in post fight interviews after a basic win.
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What...? That's been like that for decades. Fighters have been crying in interviews since I've been watching.

The older generation didn't grow up in some rough times. MMA is a young sport. There's nothing tougher about Ken Shamrock's time than today's time. Only difference is people watch tiktok instead of tv.
 
Doctor Grudge said:
It's not weird mainly because your premise is incorrect. The current generation eats better than previous ones. There is a better understanding of nutrient. Things like rest, mental health, and substance abuse (alcohol being a big one) are better understood.

There is a lot more to nutrient than whether a food is processed or not. Also, people barely had any hobbies back then, so they just ate out of boredom. (also, what generation are you referring that did not eat processed junk? Gen X and Baby Boomers all ate processed food in their adulthood - you'd have to go very far back for that not to be the norm).
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Ultra processed foods constitute almosrt 60% of people's diets in the UK/US. That's massively increased since the 70's for example.

Yes it's true that rest, mental health and general healthcare are much better/betterunderstood now, but diet plays a huge role, as do other aspects of lifestyle. You are what you eat and all that, and this current era eats more processed junk and less actual freshly cooked food than any other era, that's beyond dispute.

It doesn't mean GenX etc ate none, but it's a fact that processed junk and convenience food is more popular and prevalent than ever.

And i suppose just look drinking too much, or doing too many drugs which are obvious causes of aging etc, it's only logical to think a really crap diet full of processed junk also would be.
 
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