Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva, Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira and Co. still got some moves—but leave the headspins and the helicopters to the young guns.
A few street-dance maneuvers, maybe.
But any dolphin or back dive inside the octagon could be the equivalent of a kamikaze.
Reality check: The above-mentioned fighters are more chronologically advanced (a politically correct term) than most, and they’ve been through more wars and have suffered more wear and tear. (Boxing legend Erik Morales, at 34 years old, may still be “young enough” among his fighting contemporaries, but everybody sees that inside the ring he has aged dramatically more than most as a result of his 57 pugilistic battles.)
They no longer have youth on their side, and wounded warriors at their actual and fighting age take more time to heal.
It’s a given that they’re slower now and gas out earlier in varying degrees.
Expect the younger fighters to fight at a faster pace while sustaining the up tempo considerably longer.
And hunger, especially when facing the legends of the sport, is another serious consideration.
The thrill in watching the young dogs fight the old ones in the junkyard is in this: anticipating how the latter can temper their youthful energy with intelligence to pull out a victory over the slower, but craftier veterans.
And this is something that Matt Hamill (10-3)—chronologically two years older at 34 but a generation younger as far as MMA career and accumulated damage are concerned—failed to accomplish last Saturday night at UFC 130, proving that the athlete in Ramp-aged (32-8) still occupies a higher place in this exacting sport than some emerging prospects.
This, despite all the terrible beatings Jackson has taken, especially way back in PRIDE, in the hands and knees of the fighter originally nicknamed “Cachorro Louco.”
The seeming lack of fire from the vets inside and outside the octagon may not be just a matter of motivation; it could be a natural byproduct of aging in calendar and fight years.
We know that soon Jackson and Co. will be all bark and no bite, and…
How many fighters belong to the same gene pool as Randy Couture?
Your guess is as good as mine.
And unless you’ve been living under a Wi-Fi-proof rock with no underground cable connection, you must know by now that our Captain America has retired and is just using his mighty shield as an umbrella on a beach somewhere.
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