A Fighter's Prime?

[LoneRider]

On more than a few discussion boards I've heard 34 is considered an MMA fighter's prime. It seems rather counterintuitive to me, since many athletes tend to peak around 27-28 and then it goes downhill (especially for most competitive swimmers, save for Vladimir Salnikov).

Why is that so for MMA fighters, that they reach their peak so much later than most athletes? I'll be starting to train in earnest for MMA after I deploy to Iraq next year, so that'll be late 2009/early-2010 and I'd be about 26-27 years old. I don't think that's too old for MMA (I only really intend to try amateur competitions and see where it takes me from there).

 

[Andrew Green]

Different people peak at different times, I'd imagine it is a little younger then 34 though.

Experience and knowledge play a huge part in MMA, athleticism is really important, but the skill set is so big and experience so important that it could shift that age up a little.

MMA has also only been a sport for a fairly short time. UFC started in '92, but it didn't get sanctioned until '01.

There is not yet a generation of kids that grew up doing MMA as there is in footlball, basketball, etc. Once that happens we will see higher skill at younger age, and possibly see that average "prime" age drop a little.

In other sports at 26-27, the person has likely been playing that sport for 20+ years. Not many people have been doing MMA for 20+ years at this point, at least not in North America. (Which is likely why we see wrestlers, kickboxers and Jujitsu people dominating, they have been doing it for that long)

 

[tko4u]

I think around 29 to 30 is prime. some peak late because of maturity, some peak late because they started training later.

 

[LoneRider]

I thought Martial Artists in general tend to peak around the same time, 30s-40s depending on the discipline. My father, who's a Kyokushin karateka was a practicioner well into his forties and might take it back up again if he finds a school in our area that suits him.