Does Age Discrimination Exist in MMA?

And now for a silly question: Is there an age at which a fighter is considered too old to compete in mixed martial arts?

The answer: Of course there goddamn is. That seems pretty obvious. I don’t even know why I bothered asking it.

The more important question is whether there is an age at which it’s considered okay for us – as fans, as writers, as a community – to say that a fighter is too old to compete in MMA, to the point that the only possible next career move for that fighter that will make sense to us and satisfy us is their retirement?

The answer to that question is a little less clear cut, or at least it is if you ask Ken Shamrock.

You probably shouldn’t ask Ken Shamrock. It’ll just make him cranky.

The topic of age discrimination was brought up by Ken during an interview last week. Ken, who is 51 years old, is currently preparing to compete in the main event of Bellator 149 on February 19. His opponent is Royce Gracie, age 48, in a rematch between the first two stars of American MMA. The co-main event is a match between 41 year old Kimbo Slice and 38 year old Dada 5000 in a battle of who looks the best shirtless while holding large, blunt objects for no apparent reason.

Mr. Shamrock feels that, as long as he can pass his medicals and stay in good physical condition, who are we or anyone else to say he can’t continue fighting? He went so far as to compare the situation to the struggles of civil rights and the women’s lib movement that still persist to this day.

Yeah.

So, even if his logic is a little silly, is he right? Do we have no right to say that a fighter can’t compete due to age?

Well, it’s definitely true that, as California State Athletic Commission Executive Director Andy Foster said, matchmaking plays a big part in it. No athletic commission would be crazy enough to book someone like Ken against a young, healthy, dangerous UFC fighter, but they might be okay giving him 40 year old Tito Ortiz.

I mean, that horse has been beaten to death so badly it’s beyond recognition, but you know Scott Coker has been thinking about it.

There are definitely fighters out there who have proven you can still be competitive at an advanced age. Randy Couture fought until he was 47. Dan Henderson is still trying to chug along at 45. Anderson Silva is preparing to fight again and he’s 40.

Then, you have someone like Dan Severn, who fought through his 40s and into his 50s, retiring at age 53, but he spent the second half of his MMA career fighting nobodies with limited skill sets and experience on regional cards.

So it seems like there may be nothing inherently wrong with competing long past your physical prime as long as the matchmaking makes sense and the fighter can still pass medicals, at least as far as the athletic commissions go, but does that mean it’s still okay for older fighters to compete?

Now, I’m no doctor (I know, what a shock), but it would make sense to assume that, the older a fighter gets, the more at risk they become to suffering damage and injuries in training and in the fights themselves. It’s a part of the aging process: we slow down, we get tired faster and from less strenuous work, our organs start shutting down because our liver still hasn’t forgiven us for everything we did to it 30 years ago…so, even against an older opponent, aging fighters still have a higher risk of getting hurt in a fight, especially if they get knocked out.

I’ve never been the person who enjoys saying a fighter should retire. I absolutely hate to get asked a statement in Fact or Fiction about whether a fighter should retire because it’s not my decision to make nor is it one I’d want to make. It’s all up to the fighter and how they feel and what options are available to them at that stage of their career.

That’s why it’s so important for older fighters to really understand how they’re feeling and to know the risks and limitations so that they can do what’s best for their own health without giving themselves an even smaller chance of being able to live a normal life when they’re older, at the point that they have no choice but to retire.

And, if the fighter understands all of that and still wants to compete, who are we to say no? It may be a decision that the fighter can’t make on their own, since a lot of fighters struggle with giving up the sport once it has passed them by, but that’s where family and friends and coaches come in, hopefully using their judgment to know the fighter and help them make the best decision for them. Otherwise, all they’re doing is causing further harm.

So, while I wouldn’t say that what we’re dealing with is discrimination, especially since pretty much everyone who says he’s too old to fight will probably tune in to watch him fight on February 19, I can agree that it’s a dicey issue that most of us don’t know enough about to have a rational opinion on. For right now, all we can really do is sit back and hope the people closest to the fighters, as well as the athletic commissions, do their job and keep fighters from competing if they truly are too old for it.

Let me conclude this by asking my initial silly question again: Is there an age at which a fighter is considered too old to compete in mixed martial arts?

Honestly, it Depends, and I can only hope Ken is able to stop fighting before he has to start wearing them.

Evan Zivin has been writing for 411 MMA since May of 2013. Evan loves the sport, and likes to takes a lighthearted look at the world of MMA in his writing…usually.