...36 years old! I think athletes are learning to fight back back against father time *cough* steroids *cough* , but generally when a bloke hits 30, he is on the downside physically. When he hits 35, it should become rather apparent and in many cases they are done and just waiting for a loss. Boxers are becoming smarter (BHop, Tarver, Johnson etc) and I think MMA has maybe always had a little more longevity as fighters generally have less fights and aren't involved in striking purely. Nevertheless, how long has Silva got at 36? Were poor performances against Maia, Sonnen etc due to age? A win like Belfort is excellent and showed great timing but it didn't allow us to see any signs of aging over a prolonged fight. The timing to land that kick would suggest he is still firing on all cylinders. I think Silva isn't physically peak, humans are humans and things like his metabolism are bound to have naturally slowed down but he is still good to go. However as soon as someone starts winning after 35 years old, I class that as longevity in the fight game.
You have to remember in most Silva generally takes very little damage He had the stamina to have Sonnen mauling him for over twenty minutes and still pull out the sub, and that was while having an injury in a place that would seriously **** up your breathing/stamina His reflexes against Vitor were unbelievable He has a good couple of years at the top left in him yet if he wants to continue
I actually think boxing is more suited to greater longevity than MMA is, much more suited actually. In boxing, a guy like B-Hop or Toney can choose to stay on the outside or stay on the ropes, and rely on superior technique to get them through fights. They can offset their declining stamina through staying relaxed, using superb defence, and keeping their opponents honest by picking their shots. In MMA, if a strong wrestler is coming at you going for the takedown, there is no comparable easy means of maintaining distance and staying loose, you're going to have to go flat-out sprawling, moving and defending to resist it. I think MMA is more 'high-octane' than boxing, and more physically draining. A guy like B-Hop could never prosper in MMA, because Bernard's stamina has been in clear decline ever since around 2005, but he is still successful because of his technique. By contrast, once an MMA fighter starts to slide physically, he's pretty much done for. I tend to agree with the TS to an extent, not because I have seen a great decline in Anderson, but just because I think that surely age must be affecting Silva now, surely? It's not as if he fights like Randy Couture, where he can pin you against the cage and save his energy. Silva is an explosive striker who never (through choice) takes breaks by taking the fight to the ground or by clinching against the cage. Surely a 36 year old man with a long career behind him cannot continue to have the stamina to fight like this?? Look at it this way - Anderson is older than Big Nog! I think this fight against a high-octane aggressive wrestler like Okami will tell us a lot about how much Anderson has left. Though I defy anyone to say Anderson is as good now as he was in 2006-2008, I think he was at his peak then and is a little less strong and sharp now. I hope he retires before he slides to the point that Wandy and Chuck reached. Age is not kind to strikers!
I disagree Popkins. Randy Couture is a classic example of someone staying loose, pacing himself, controlling a guy in the clinch, working the inside which isn't so much based on youth etc Similarly you'll have a fat guy like Nelson know how to pace himself and pick his shots. Not due to age but weight, which he makes up in striking and grappling skills. Big Nog is 7000 years old in fight age! I think boxing and MMA are comparable in how the fighter chooses to fight. However in boxing you can clinch but the same is true in MMA.
I disagree I have to say. Couture could pace himself when his opponent allowed him to, when Randy was in control of the fight. With Hopkins, he can fight anyone and ensure he isn't going to get stopped or even close to it. You see, with boxing Bernard Hopkins is the master of all he surveys, in a way that an MMA fighter cannot be. Couture may be a master of wrestling, but he is not a master of striking or BJJ, so he could still be put under pressure, unsettled or shocked by his opponents' tactics, in a way which would physically and mentally drain him. We saw Randy get smashed up a few times (Lesnar/Machida), we saw him get forced into a high-octane fight and tire (Nogueira). No-one can come at B-Hop with anything he hasn't seen before or doesn't know or isn't expecting, so he can cruise through 12 rounds, even if sometimes he gets narrowly shaded on the cards because his own workrate is not high enough (eg Taylor, Calzaghe). Older boxers will continue to have much more success than older MMA fighters, because an older boxer can choose to rely more on technique than footwork/movement, and coast to victory. This cannot be done in MMA to the same extent, not at all. Even when older fighters have success, it's still by using brawn (Couture, Henderson) because MMA is by nature more physical, considering the variety of areas which are targeted (eg takedowns, grappling, ground game, kicks) compared to the more linear, specialized game of boxing.
Hopkins is crafty but its his durability that lets him survive. The odd shot gets through that would put most guys down or out. X acts like they never happen. Tarver, Pavlik, Pascal etc are punchers. Though in his fight with Hopkins I got scared that his career would have a bad ending! Remember Randy isn't a like for like with X. He is proof of longevity and craftiness and I think there are many more. Hendo, Liddell and numerous others all go on past 35.
This is a big part of it. Many others are spending their time getting beat up. Rehabing from injuries etc. Whereas Spider usually gets out unscathed ready to fight another day.
I disagree. I did not see a single punch which looked like it would put most guys down or out in either the Tarver, Pavlik or Pascal fights. Hopkins's all-round high-level defence means he hardly ever gets hit cleanly, and when he does it's never by a massive, telegraphed shot. The last time I remember him eating a monster punch was in the second Echols fight in 2000, and he ate it admirably, but it really doesn't happen these days. I must say Achilles, I find myself in complete and total disagreement with you here. I think MMA is far more taxing physically, and thus is far more difficult to survive in until a later age. Even when James Toney was fat and approaching 40, he was still outfoxing and outboxing much bigger heavyweights like Samuel Peter and John Ruiz. In MMA, this couldn't happen. If Randy Couture came in horribly out of shape and tried to rely on ringcraft, he'd get worn out and pounded out. Boxing is much more conducive to a technician fighting a relaxed fight than MMA is, where someone can get taken down and pounded or legkicked into oblivion or mauled against the cage. JMO.
It's okay, great minds can disagree The shots Pascal landed put him in real danger and I haven't seen Hopkins vulnerable since the Mercado fights! Plus alot of glancing blows you see from Tarver and Pavlik have fighters disengaging quick but BHop is too crafty for that sillyness. He does it without letting the opponent know he's taken any sort of damage. If a fighter comes out of shape in MMA, you get some like Roy Nelson. If they are old and in shape you get Randy Couture. I think the MMA era of high octane explosive looking bouts is coming to an end. Fighters are learning to blend different martial arts more fluidly.
The first Pascal knockdown was not even a knockdown, it shouldn't have counted. The second one was legit, but Hopkins didn't seem too hurt to me. You may be right about the future of MMA, but I still think that as of now, a boxer who is old or out of shape can come in, stay relaxed, take breathers, do his thing, and coast to a points win, in a way that can't really be done in MMA unless your opponent is a total tomato can. The physical and mental toll of defending takedowns, legkicks, and strikes, as well as defending yourself on the ground, is greater than the toll in boxing for guys who are high-level technicians. But great minds can indeed disagree from time to time :good
he's already on the slide. watch his past fights and look how he no longer bounces on his feet. he's become more flat footed as of recent.
