Issue 017

September 2006

By Hywel Teague

As often happens with me when sat chatting with a friend over a beer, I had a thought that grew over a number of days and became this article. This time the creative spark for my ramblings was that we had just returned from a trip to Sheffield where we had been to watch a semi-professional feeder show. While we were mulling over the evening’s events and discussing the UK scene in general, we touched upon something I had not consciously thought of until now. I realised that there are very few old men in MMA. 

This may not seem much of a surprise to anyone, and it didn’t to me at first, but as I thought about it more the realisation become clearer. Mixed martial arts is often described as a young and dynamic sport, and rightly so. Though MMA has existed in many different forms throughout history (see issues one and two of Fighters Only for the two-part History of MMA article), modern mixed martial arts has only come of age in the last 12 years. 

The year 1993 saw a wake-up call for a generation who, raised on high-kicking kung-fu films, still believed the heavyweight boxing champion of the world was the planet’s greatest fighter. Those savvy enough to realise they were on the cusp of a giant paradigm shift began their journey on the long and winding path to becoming a fighter, but initially MMA was populated by stylists of various ‘traditional’ martial arts, mostly esoteric Oriental fighting systems based more on myth than reality. 

The fighters entering the early American MMA events were often out-of-shape recreational martial artists or street fighters. None of them were particularly young, with many Karate masters and kung fu artists in their thirties and forties. When the ‘deadly’ techniques of these traditionalists were disproved, these fighters were generally fazed out from competition, and a new influx of athletes replaced them. 

The young men who entered MMA in the 90s and forced the sport to evolve into what we now enjoy were predominantly coming from backgrounds in athletic sports such as jiu-jitsu, wrestling and kickboxing, and often held long college athletic careers. In a sport where reactions and endurance are highly important, youth is a key attribute, and few athletes over the age of 35 exist. There are, of course, always exceptions, and one such man is The Natural, Randy Couture. Now 42, Couture bowed out from competition after his loss to Chuck Liddell (see our UFC report on p34 of this months issue), but Liddell is no spring chicken either. Now 36, he not only defended his title, but he claimed the enviable record of 13 straight wins inside the UFC octagon. Not bad for an ‘old man’! 

But, unlike sports such as boxing, in MMA there are very few old men to be found outside the ring either. Top boxing coaches are often old to the point of being elderly. With many years of experience to draw upon, either as trainers or as competitors, the elite level boxing coaches can be well into their sixties. The legendary Cus D’Amato worked as a boxing trainer until he died aged 78! 

With good reason, it is a fact that MMA is driven by the force of youth. Such an intricate new sport requires a level of understanding and insight that older coaches from other styles may lack. If you are entrenched in a certain style for years, even decades, the bonds are often too strong to break, and MMA requires the fresh eyes of youth to be able to approach it properly. 

While some of the competitors from the 90s have since retired to go on to become successful trainers, many MMA coaches are often not much older than their athletes. In many cases, gyms and fight teams come about through a group of like-minded people training together, and as these fighters are often lacking a patriarchal figurehead, they instead train each other as opposed to placing their destiny in the hands of a ‘master’. 

Whether or not this is the best course of action is debatable- there are arguments both for and against training in such a manner- but sometimes results speak louder than words. The ‘feeder’ show I visited did much to convince me that sometimes a group of talented young athletes working with a strong sense of communal spirit can achieve great things. 

Fight teams throughout the UK have been created by groups of young men dedicated to breaking into the sport they love. With a lot of enthusiasm and not a little hard work, they push each other’s limits and develop their skills often by trial and error. More often than not, one or more of the team may travel abroad to train with top names in fields such as MMA, BJJ or wrestling, and bring back and share what they learnt. 

With a generation of fighters entering MMA with no lengthy background in one style, we are seeing true mixed martial artists- young men who, inspired by the exploits of a skinny Brazilian defeating larger opponents or dazzled by the skills of the Japanese submission artists, are cross training from day one and emerging as multi-talented fighters. 

One has to ask though, what does the future hold for them? When they reach retirement age, much as Randy has done, what will their place in MMA be? Will we one day see old-timers bring through young guns like we do in boxing? Who knows, but one thing is for sure- it is going to be an interesting time until then.