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Podcast: Hendricks, Castillo
By: Luca Fury
TJ De Santis and Jon Luther returned to The Sherdog Radio Network Wednesday for a new episode of 'Beatdown.' Joining them was UFC 141 fighter Danny Castillo.
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Greg Savage and Jeff Sherwood were back for another edition of "The Savage Dog Show." Joining them was UFC 141's Johny Hendricks.
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Picking MMA’s Youth Movement
By: Jason Probst
Don’t bet against MMA athlete 3.0. | Jose Aldo file photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
As part of my regular assignments covering MMA, I do an event preview with fight picks. What I have noticed is how the game seems to be trending toward younger fighters, and how the latest wave threatens to displace the old guard of veterans.
It felt odd picking Danny Castillo over Joe Stevenson on the UFC Live 3 card. As someone intimately familiar with both fighters’ careers, Stevenson seemed a slight favorite. Yet the bout played out exactly as I thought it would. The same was true in choosing Chris Weidman over Alessio Sakara.
In short, the younger guard in MMA -- roughly defined as anyone under 25, or with less than 15 fights -- is quickly displacing the older guard. There are many theories as to why, but in a nutshell, it is easier for a fighter to improve before he or she reaches their peak, and especially tough to improve at the same rate once they reach it.
As MMA moves toward the completion of its second decade, the evolution curve of today’s fighter is markedly different than that of five or six years ago. Fighters are starting younger than ever and, perhaps as importantly, are often aware of MMA in grade school or high school. Read more
