The Decade Curse vs. The 35 Curse
Much is made of the stat that very few champions, especially in lower weight classes, remain competitive past 35 years of age. This is obviously a relevant stat, and clearly a marker for when most athletes start to decline, with the small caveat that larger men have a slightly later athletic decline. However, in my 18 years of following the sport, one statistic has remained incredibly relevant, even more so than the rule of 35 - the rule of the decade. Very few fighters ever remain competitive after a decade in the sport, especially when fighting at the elite level and the 5 round championship level. Fedor, Mir, Shogun, Tito, Frank Shamrock, Adesanya, GSP, Penn, Pulver, Aldo, Cruz- all great champs who had about 10 great years in the sport before declining/ retiring, before they were aged 35. Hell, even Jon Jones, the unnatty goat, started turning in real stinkers after the 10 year mark of his career. This stat can vary a bit, but the general rule is, this sport is so brutal and taxing on the body, especially at the 5 round championship level, very few fighters can operate at their best past the 10 year mark. submitted by /u/PattMcGroyn [link] [comments]
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Much is made of the stat that very few champions, especially in lower weight classes, remain competitive past 35 years of age. This is obviously a relevant stat, and clearly a marker for when most athletes start to decline, with the small caveat that larger men have a slightly later athletic decline. However, in my 18 years of following the sport, one statistic has remained incredibly relevant, even more so than the rule of 35 - the rule of the decade. Very few fighters ever remain competitive after a decade in the sport, especially when fighting at the elite level and the 5 round championship level. Fedor, Mir, Shogun, Tito, Frank Shamrock, Adesanya, GSP, Penn, Pulver, Aldo, Cruz- all great champs who had about 10 great years in the sport before declining/ retiring, before they were aged 35. Hell, even Jon Jones, the unnatty goat, started turning in real stinkers after the 10 year mark of his career.
This stat can vary a bit, but the general rule is, this sport is so brutal and taxing on the body, especially at the 5 round championship level, very few fighters can operate at their best past the 10 year mark.
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