Randy Couture started all this. Back when “The Natural” was doing his thing, being heroic for the over-40 crowd as he won titles at heavyweight and light heavyweight, there was the assumption that in mixed martial arts, fighters could peak late and have more success than their counterparts in boxing.
Well, in the post-Couture years, some past 40 had success, but it was far from a regular thing, showing that maybe the UFC Hall of Famer was simply a unicorn.
Then again, look at Saturday’s UFC 237 card, where four fighters 40 or older – BJ Penn, Anderson Silva, Rogerio Nogueira, Francisco Trinaldo - will compete in Rio de Janeiro.