Watching clips of Colby absolutely ragdoll the living sh*t out of Luke Rockhold yesterday got me thinking, how would other older fighters fare up against the newer generation? If you look at MMA 10-15 years ago, lots of the fighters grew up training some other form of martial arts, only really switching to different forms and general MMA by the time they were adults. MMA wasn’t a big sport back then, but it is now, and there’s definitely way more opportunities for younger fighters. Nowadays you have MMA gyms and institutions with expert coaches in multiple martial arts, all available in the same place. You now have younger fighters pursuing MMA, and so that’s why I believe that Jon Jones’ record of being the youngest ever champ is definitely gonna be broken in the next couple of years. In terms of how older fighters would do now, I think there’s a pretty easy answer. I’d go as far to say that 90% of former champs wouldn’t get anywhere near the title at the moment, with some exceptions like DJ (well rounded), Ngannou (HW is bone dry), McGregor (works well stylistically) and maybe DC (not many grapplers at 205). Most of these are because of problems due to the division right now, but based on pure skill, the sport has certainly evolved. The majority of top contenders in each division would probably be champions 10 years ago, just because of how well rounded current fighters are while still excelling at a certain part of their game.