Few sports worldwide have a wider age range of professionals participating in it, such as MMA.
Just look at one particular Saturday in February as an example. At the PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions event, Yoel Romero, 46, added another victory – a unanimous decision win over Thiago Santos – to his lengthy career ledger. Later that same night at UFC Mexico City, Francisco Prado, 21, and Raul Rosas Jr., 19, each had scheduled fights on the card. Prado was defeated by decision, while Rosas had to withdraw from his contest due to sickness.
Across the three major MMA promotions, there are fighters ranging from age 19 (Rosas) to 46 (Romero) who not only have been active within the last 12 calendar months, but are also still winning at a high level. All this talk of age begs the question: Which fighters in the sport are the best at their respective age?
ESPN’s reporters and editors came together to vote on each age. After tabulating the results, Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi, Jeff Wagenheim, Andres Waters and Eddie Maisonet analyzed the winning fighters.
Cuntinued