Few sports worldwide have a wider age range of professionals participating in it, such as MMA.
Just look at one particular Saturday in February as an example. At the PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions event, Yoel Romero, 46, added another victory — a unanimous decision win over Thiago Santos — to his lengthy career ledger. Later that same night at UFC Mexico City, Francisco Prado, 21, and Raul Rosas Jr., 19, each had scheduled fights on the card. Prado was defeated by decision, while Rosas had to withdraw from his contest due to sickness.
Across the three major MMA promotions, there are fighters ranging from age 19 (Rosas) to 46 (Romero) who not only have been active within the last 12 calendar months, but are also still winning at a high level. All this talk of age begs the question: Which fighters in the sport are the best at their respective age?
ESPN’s reporters and editors came together to vote on each age. After tabulating the results, Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi, Jeff Wagenheim, Andres Waters and Eddie Maisonet analyzed the winning fighters.
19 – Raul Rosas Jr.
1:20
Raul Rosas Jr. stops the fight quickly in Round 1
Raul Rosas Jr. celebrates emphatically with the Vegas crowd after his win over Terrence Mitchell at Noche UFC.
Rosas was just 17 when he stepped into the Octagon in 2022 for his sixth pro fight. He brought with him a highly developed grappling game and unbridled confidence. That self-belief did not dissipate after he suffered his first career defeat last April. He bounced back five months later with a finish of Terrence Mitchell in under a minute. Who knows where this young fighter’s ceiling is? It’s going to be fun watching how far he goes. — Wagenheim
20 – Igor da Silva
0:54
Igor da Silva uses flurry of punches to grab TKO win
Igor da Silva grabs a TKO win over Jhonata Silva in Dana White’s Contender Series.
A standout from Dana White’s Contender Series last year, this 20-year-old from Brazil provided exactly the kind of style White looks…
