Age is an important measurement for a fighter. It’s one of the first things that viewers see on the Tale of the Tape before a contest. It can make the difference between being an up-and-comer, a journeyman or a grizzled veteran with gatekeeper status.
The fun thing about age is that some fighters can spit in the face of it and make a name for themselves outside of their “prime.” There are two current 37-year-old UFC Champions, both likely turning 38 before their next title defense. There’s also a young 25 year old who seemingly challenged for the title “too soon” but won the belt in dominant fashion.
Let’s take a comprehensive look at the current age of ranked UFC fighters and see if we can see some trends. Embedded below is a spreadsheet with the information.
The average age of a ranked UFC fighter is 31 years old, with the most common age being 32. To give you an idea of average age, Dominick Cruz, Nate Diaz, Gegard Mousasi and Karolina Kowalkiewicz are all 31 years old.
The youngest divisions in the UFC are the Strawweight and Featherweight divisions at 28.6 years old and 28.7 years old respectively. The oldest division is the Middleweight division at 33.6 years old.
The oldest fighter that is currently ranked in the Top 15 of their division is Mark Hunt at 42 years young. The youngest ranked UFC fighter was born 20 years and 3 days after Hunt. That fighter is Paige VanZant at 22 years old.
Here is a list of the most dominant fighters in their age class. The “dominance” of a fighter is based on their UFC rankings. Ties are broken by the P4P list.
Some age classes are filled with dominant fighters, like 28–year–olds: Conor McGregor, Amanda Nunes, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Claudia Gadelha, Valentina Shevchenko. Other age classes, like 38 year olds, have #12 ranked Johnny Eduardo as their best fighter.
Have you ever wondered what month most UFC ranked fighters are born in? No one has. But that didn’t stop us from finding out. The month that birthed the most Top 15 UFC fighters is August with 19. The months that produced the least are May and November, with 7 fighters each.
If you are bored and want a good time waster, go to the Google Spreadsheet above, or click this link, and find the fighter closest to your age and comment down below who that fighter is. Mine is Paige VanZant, who is a month older than me.
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