Is 35 the cursed aged due to biology or experience?

[RayA]

I remember when I was 24, you could pull me right off the couch and I'd be ready for a sprint. Age 25, hold on, let me stretch and warm up first so I don't pull something.

 

[sonhow]

I think Volk would have lost anyway.

Topuria is on track of goatness unless he finds a nice waterfall or two to chase.

Called the fight btw.

 

[The XL]

Natural aging in conjunction with wear and tear. A lot of it is based on the individual too, some people age differently than others. There will be guys like LeBron James, Tom Brady, Randy Couture, George Foreman etc that tell father time to get fucked

 

[Roop Holstry]

Feels good to be a young and athletic 34 year old like me.

 

[Patrick Jane]

Dude when Ali fought Foreman back in 1972 a lot of the pre fight press and buzz was about how Ali was washed up and was going to take a horrific beating. Ali was 32 going into that fight. In the early 70's it was generally considered that guys over 30 were not in their athletic prime.

So now it's not 35 anymore but 30?

 

[Neck&Neck]

35 could be prime if you start MMA at 30

 

[Khaosan]

Tony is older than 35 and is only just entering his prime.

Get this shit out of here TS, too easily debunked.

 

[r-harper-1]

Do we as men really decline that much at the age of 35?

In those lighter weight classes speed kills …slow down a half step and it’s tough ….also the amount of video on volk against quality opponents……Unpopular opinion, but I think Topuria does that to any Volk

 

[JustforBROCK]

Imagine having a wealth of knowledge literally at your fingertips but you ask on sherdog.

 

[BFG]

Some types of fighters age better than others. Guys with heavy hands will carry that despite their age. Fighters with high level defense will have fewer miles on the odometer and be able to avoid KOs better. That's the case in boxing at least (see guys like Foreman or Bernand Hopkins). In MMA it's a lot harder to be an old fighter in MMA and guys like Volk who don't have a ton of power and aren't active submission threats are gonna have a harder time than guys with either or both of these attributes. Volk is good, but even if he hasn't got clipped in th seconds, he was likely going to have to drag Ilia deep...without getting caught. With a fighter who is at the tail end of their career with reflexes that are a touch slower than they used to be, that's not impossible but that have to be pretty flawless.

 

[r-harper-1]

42 here and I do blue collar work. Can still run circles around these kids half my age, but fuck I wouldn't want to fight them. I'm old and slow now.

I’m 42 and outwork my coworkers with ease …..maybe delusional but I feel I’d best most of them in a fight as well ….6’3 and 205 lbs ….most of these little punks never been in a fight in their life ffs …..they better protect their nuts , throat and eyes ….im not here to lose lol ( half joking )

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

Biology. There are some freaks of nature that can hang on a bit longer but there's simply an athletic gap between guys in their 20s vs. 30s.

Look at every other grueling sport in the world. You are a dinosaur in football if you outside of your 20s unless you are the quarterback who is usually just passing the ball.

It's the energy, recovery, speed, attitude. You can't compete with guys in their 20s as long as they are good. Until modern history, most men were actually dying in their 40s and 50s. Let that sink in...

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

I’m 42 and outwork my coworkers with ease …..maybe delusional but I feel I’d best most of them in a fight as well ….6’3 and 205 lbs ….most of these little punks never been in a fight in their life ffs …..they better protect their nuts , throat and eyes ….im not here to lose lol ( half joking )

I think the caveat to this question is knowing what you are doing too. If they took someone of your skill level at 22 and had you fight....RIP. But yeah, you take a little 20 year old Zoomer pipsqueak that has never even raised their voice in their life, they getting highlight reeled by a guy in their 40s.

Power is the last thing to go. I'm also around the same age and I'm really strong in the gym and out-lift the younger guys. If they told us to have a sprint though, I'd probably be huffing and puffing and nearly have a heart attack trying to compete. Age sucks.

 

[r-harper-1]

I think the caveat to this question is knowing what you are doing too. If they took someone of your skill level at 22 and had you fight....RIP. But yeah, you take a little 20 year old Zoomer pipsqueak that has never even raised their voice in their life, they getting highlight reeled by a guy in their 40s.

Power is the last thing to go. I'm also around the same age and I'm really strong in the gym and out-lift the younger guys. If they told us to have a sprint though, I'd probably be huffing and puffing and nearly have a heart attack trying to compete. Age sucks.

It does suck …..I play softball lol ….. I’m still running for people much younger and play centre field ……But workouts have always been more cardio based …..so feel I’m going strong…..definitely not looking to fight anyone now or ever

 

[GrantB13]

It's not experience because that assumes every fighter has the same number of fights and experience at 35.

 

[Tweak896]

Volk took the hardest contender at an older age. He had Max figured out and KZ/Yair/Ortega just weren't on Topuria's level. It's just timing and age.

 

[Oenomaus]

Reaction time, wear and tear, quickness decline substantially in hyper-competitive athletic situations by the time you’re 35. It’s very rare to see a high performing running back or wide receiver at that age. In baseball you don’t see a lot of elite hitters at that age either, they struggle to catch up to fastballs and have to start their swing earlier and earlier to compensate and then susceptible to offspeed/breaking. Basketball has a few in lebron, KD, and Steph - but they’re the exceptions not the rule. I think we’ll see this more in mma as the talent pool increases…. Seeing it a lot in the lower weight classes and I’d wager those guys are probably a bit more athletic relative to the higher weight classes because the smaller guys have less ways to make money in athletics

 

[ILove4MinutesHyuna]

Since fighters are uncapable of walking away on time, we should just stop the count at age 35. Compare fighters records and accomplishment up until that age.

 

[bubbleboyjones]

The actual natural physical prime of men considering healing ability, explosiveness, strength of the heart and nervous system, etc. is between the ages of 16 and 24. In most men the frame - that is bone structure, attachments, etc. are fully grown and mature by the age of 16 roughly, and testosterone is naturally at it's highest and nervous system strongest until the mid twenties, hence 24.

I use the hangover metric when people can't grasp this.

When you are teens into early 20s you can pretty much get hammered, recover next day and then rinse and repeat multiple nights in a row and thats with basically little hangover prep. You hit late 20s and the hangovers start to get worst. By the time you hit 35 you are pretty much fucked.

 

[Harlekin]

Depends on the weight class, fighting minutes, when you started and on your base.
The heavier you are, the more oxygen you need, the less repetitions you can do.
So heavier weight classes have later primes.

Lower weight classes are faster, reflexes and speed say byebye earlier than power.

Heavyweight 36 can be ok

Flyweight 34 can be a problem