Kamaru Usman was undefeated in the UFC until he faced Leon Edwards a second and third time. While Edwards managed to outwork him in a competitive trilogy fight at UFC 286 this past weekend, one can't help but wonder if age played a role.
Usman turns 36 in May and was a relatively active champion compared to most the last couple of years. Not to mention that while Edwards looked very good, at the same time, Usman also showed signs of regression in their welterweight title fight.
As they say, father time is undefeated and a fan on Twitter pulled up a damning statistic not only for Usman, but for just about every UFC fighter who competed in title fights at the age of 35 and above from the flyweight to welterweight divisions.
The total record for all those fighters was a stunning 2-28.
The only fighter to win at the age of 35 or above is Tyron Woodley who did it twice during his reign as welterweight champion, granted one of those wins was against an older opponent in Demian Maia.
Funnily enough, Woodley would go on to lose his title against none other than Usman back in March 2019. Woodley was 36 years old at the time and he still hasn't won a fight since then.
If you're wondering why the statistic stops at welterweight, it's likely because middleweight up to heavyweight would skew it as you are more likely to find success in those weight classes beyond 35 years of age due to having more natural knockout power.
Overall, the main conclusion we can draw here is that every fighter will have their time…until the changing of the guard inevitably happens.
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