Fight mileage vs age. (2024)

Which factor you thinks plays more into longevity of a fighters career.
For example randy couture was still givener at 45 (no usada tho) where Shogun Rua was pretty much done at 30. Prime wise anyways.
I remember a boxer named Riddick bowe retired at 29 100% due to fight mileage

Max Hollaway is another example. The guy is 32 but his chin just got cracked by ilya. I think max is pretty much downhill from here.
GSP was 32 and the milage was wearing on him and he was smart enough to quit.
You've got guys like tony, nick, and now Cowboy all with a ton of mileage still fighting

So in my opinion fight mileage is more of a determining factor than age but an argument can be made for both.

Discuss

Mileage for sure. Rory MacDonald is my favorite example. Started really young, peaked at 25 and it was all downhill from there. Won't be surprised if we see Rosas Jr go this path as well.

DC started late and peaked in his late 30's. Idk if HW is an exception to the age thing lol.

What argument do you want us to make here??

Sometimes its one or the other and sometimes its both at the same time.

Ok?

It's a combination, but yeah some guys can be cooked before 30.

ChaelSonnen said:

Mileage for sure. Rory MacDonald is my favorite example. Started really young, peaked at 25 and it was all downhill from there. Won't be surprised if we see Rosas Jr go this path as well.

DC started late and peaked in his late 30's. Idk if HW is an exception to the age thing lol.

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Yeah McDonald started at 16 I think, he still had a very long career but retired at a relatively young age

I remember watchin one of Julio Ceasar Chavez' last fights against Kosta Tszyu.

It was his 110th fight and he was 38 or 39

He clearly was still game. Which is unbelievable.

But he just was too slow, and his reaction time was gone. He just didnt see the punches coming and his own punches were too slow to make him pay.

He had to resort to headbutts to try and get a fight going. Kosta to his credit didnt seem to take offense to the Legend's desperation.

Anyway his mind was sharp, but his body no longer obeyed. It's sad to see how time waits for no man.

Mileage.

guys who started later like DC and Couture did way better past their physical prime.
lots of fighters are done by the early 30s.

filthynumber1 said:

Which factor you thinks plays more into longevity of a fighters career.
For example randy couture was still givener at 45 (no usada tho) where Shogun Rua was pretty much done at 30. Prime wise anyways.
I remember a boxer named Riddick bowe retired at 29 100% due to fight mileage

Max Hollaway is another example. The guy is 32 but his chin just got cracked by ilya. I think max is pretty much downhill from here.
GSP was 32 and the milage was wearing on him and he was smart enough to quit.
You've got guys like tony, nick, and now Cowboy all with a ton of mileage still fighting

So in my opinion fight mileage is more of a determining factor than age but an argument can be made for both.

Discuss

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Agreed. But also, the two are often simultaneous, making it double brutal for the fighter (e.g., Volk or Usman).

Fight Professor said:

It really depends how much damage a fighter has taken in and outside the cage. One injury can completely ruin a fighter while there are fighters like Jones whose longevity is legendary.

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Big Nog is probably the best example of this. He looked and moved like an old man by his early 30s.

Best fight to exemplify it was when he fought Randy Couture. Nog was like 33, and Randy was 45. Even though Nog won (mainly due to size and power) Randy looked like the younger fresher man. And the crazy part is that Nog, despite being a bona-fide legend and veteran of over a decade by then, was still younger than Randy was when he made his MMA debut.

Training mileage is about as much a factor as fights.

At least how you train. Most pro fighters spar 3 days a week. So lets say that you do 10-20, rounds of idiotic gym wars three times every week, year after year. Like boxers and dutch kickboxing does.

Thats gonna destroy your body in no time.

If you do flow sparring most of the time however, like the thaiboxers in Thailand, or the Cuban boxers do, then your body gonna last much longer.

I would think at higher weight classes it has to millage with lower weight classes it has to be age.

You have to be fast in the smaller weight classes and not having that agility or speed can be detrimental.

1) Everyone's mileage damage point isn't the same; some fighters take far more punishment in the same given period. Genetics affect your body's resilience regardless of the level of punishment you have taken; some fighters can take more punishment before they are damaged.

2) Everyone's age range for high athletic performance isn't the same; genetics affect this also.

3) Who fucking knows which one affects you more? They both affect you a lot (but they both affect different people differently depending on a range of factors).