Opinion: Age Ain’t Nothin’ but a Number

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.* * * Aged wisdom and youthful confidence have always been at odds with each other. It’s a reasonably understood, inversely proportional relationship; when the body is more adaptable and broadly capable, thoughtfulness is less necessary to success than it is when the body starts to deteriorate. You see this dynamic play out — in sports and in life — with such variability that it’s not certain which side of the spectrum is winning. Sure, experience is something you don’t know you never had until you finally get it, but at the same time, experience is something you’ll never get if you don’t tell your mind to shut up and get out of the body’s way. No amount of physical ability can substitute intelligence, and yet you can’t compile any number of sage aphorisms to land a standing backflip.In mixed martial arts, this tension manifests in interesting ways. It’s easy to point to Demian Maia’s gentlemanly domination of Carlos Condit at UFC on Fox 21 as a signal that the old-timers still got it, and you wouldn’t be wrong to do so. It’s bigger than that, though. The entirety of Maia’s career has shown that he has almost always been wise beyond his years. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace was a few weeks shy of 30 when he made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut in 2007. By today’s standards, he was a latecomer to the party, though he certainly wasn’t the first or the oldest to make the jump. As one of the most decorated jiu-jitsu players ever to transition into MMA, it was no surprise that Maia won his first five fights by submission. He was playing to his strengths, as any wise man would. Yet even the wisest of us is still human, which is to say that no one is patient or thoughtful enough to be immune to lapses in judgment. Not even Maia, who, in an attempt to shore up his striking deficiencies (smart) began to forget what brought him to the show in the first place (not so smart). Case in point: His attempt to mix it up on the feet with Nate Marquardt led to his jumping chin-first into a counter right cross that flatlined him in 21 seconds. To be sure, this is not to say that Maia shouldn’t have improved his striking. Of course he should have, and he should continue to do so. His error was not that he …

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