MMA Fighters Who Started Late

MMA has become incredibly popular over the last couple of decades. While boxing was at its peak, mixed martial arts slowly crawled in the shadows, showing a completely new way of fighting your opponent. It became much more appealing because it required knowledge from a mix of martial arts to defeat your opponent successfully. It was the perfect way of showing how fighting is actually like chess, requiring a lot of smart moves quickly. That’s why UFC got so popular worldwide. It attracted the top talent from all over the world and presented some of the most interesting and memorable fights ever recorded.

How UFC Became So Popular?

Dana White is at the head of this organization, and he is an entrepreneur who knows how to talk to people, recognize talent, and simply move quickly. His ingenuity is the reason why even COVID wasn’t able to stop UFC fights from happening. But what’s really important is his ability to recognize talent. From the moment he sees a fighter, he evaluates their skillset and their personality. The skills in the octagon matter as they can go a long way, but figher’s character is equally important, as they are also a showman who needs to entertain the crowd. His ability to recognize fighters who possess both of these qualities made UFC so popular that there are even slot games at the best paying online casino sites with the UFC theme. Once you reach that level of popularity, it’s clear that you’ll stay there for decades. Best of all, athletes don’t even have to have trained from early childhood; fighting is a bit different compared to other sports.

You can progress quickly in martial arts and get in shape, ready for a fight, relatively quickly. In fact, many of the best male and female UFC fighters started training MMA late and still managed to become successful. Some examples include:

These are only some of the examples, as the complete list is much longer. Let’s examine these fighters individually and discuss what makes them special.

Male UFC Fighters Who Started Late

Let’s take a look at some of the top UFC fighters who started MMA late.

• Randy Couture – This iconic fighter made his debut in UFC when he was 33 years old. From the moment he stepped into the ring, he showed that it was his haven, and anyone who stood in his way would have to try really hard to defeat him. It is important to mention that his wrestling skills were already at the top prior to this. So even though he did start MMA late, his previous skill set translated to other martial arts, which made him a beast in the octagon.
• Yoel Romero – Another fighter with an amazing background in wrestling. He made his MMA debut at 30 years old. His style was unique because he built upon his wrestling with kickboxing and combat sambo. This mixture of skillsets made him a tough opponent who was unpredictable.
• Mark Hunt – Mark has a unique history and shows a redemption path through his focus on martial arts. Despite being jailed two times in his youth, he was spotted as a natural talent who was then put through formal training. He originally trained in kickboxing, but after his success in K-1, he ventured into the MMA world at 30 years old. He was first in PRIDE before becoming a UFC fighter when it acquired the PRIDE Fighting Championship.
• Alex Pereira – Even though he made his UFC debut at 33, he is already an iconic MMA fighter. Before becoming an MMA fighter, he was an extremely proficient kickboxer, winning numerous titles throughout his career. He expanded his skillset with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. That combination made him dangerous in different combat aspects, allowing him to achieve an MMA record of 13:3.
• Francis Ngannou – This fighter is one of a kind because he comes from Cameroon and extreme poverty. He tried boxing at 22, but was unable to continue until he turned 26. With no prospects in his country, he managed to flee to France through Spain, and with the support of the locals, managed to learn MMA and join UFC. His story is remarkable because he had no good training until he was 27, and in a matter of years, he became a UFC champion with a record of 18:3. He was never knocked out; all his losses were by decision.

Other notable mentions from male fighters are:

• Chuck Liddell
• David Rodriguez
• Alexander Volkanovski.
• Kimbo Slice
• Don Frye

Female UFC Fighters That Started Late

Female fighters who have started late are:

• Holly Holm – Even though her MMA debut was at 31, she had a great kickboxing and boxing career. To become a more complete fighter, she expanded her skillset in wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, making her a successful MMA fighter.
• Sara McMann – What made Sara so dangerous was her wrestling history. Her debut in MMA was at 31 years old, but she quickly showed that she is a very capable fighter.
• Angela Hill – Her debut was at 29, but her kickboxing skills earned her 18 wins in mixed martial arts.

How Can Fighters Start Late and Get to the Top So Quickly?

The success of a fighter greatly depends on their ability to learn and apply new skills. Almost all of them have a strong background in one of the martial arts. Here are a couple of examples:

However, being a complete fighter is necessary in MMA. Many of them quickly pivot to another discipline with their coaches and prepare themselves for a debut in their late 30s. The newly acquired skills affect their fighting styles, making each of them uniquely dangerous in the octagon. For instance, Chuck Liddell used his background in wrestling, combining it with powerful counterstrikes that surprised opponents and left them defenceless.

Plus, by this time, fighters already have plenty of experience and are ready to learn more through MMA fighting. That’s why for many successful ones, their career peak is at around 37-38 years old. They reach full maturity by then, knowing how to counter fighters with a different set of martial arts.

Will This Trend Continue?

There are always going to be fighters who can learn martial arts more quickly than others. So even though someone has long been in training, it doesn’t mean they will be better than a newcomer who has been preparing with nothing to lose, like Francis Ngannou, who was able to recover from a heavy knockout in his early years. Therefore, the answer is clear: yes, we’ll likely see more fighters joining the MMA world when they’re older, but we’ll probably see it less often now that the sport has become so popular.