Top 5: Best Over-40 Fighters of All-Time

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Former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder Randy Couture set a high bar for what was possible for middle-aged mixed martial artists.

“The Natural” was a three-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University and three-time Olympic alternate before he transitioned to full-contact fighting. Couture debuted at UFC 13 on May 30, 1997—he was 33 at the time—and won a four-man heavyweight tournament by besting Tony Halme and Steven Graham in a little more than four minutes combined. A founding member of the Team Quest and Xtreme Couture camps, the Everett, Washington, native went on to strike UFC gold in the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions.

Couture’s rivalries with Pedro Rizzo, Vitor Belfort and Chuck Liddell pushed mixed martial arts forward, boosted pay-per-view numbers and helped bring what was once a back-alley sport into the mainstream spotlight. He kept Father Time at bay along the way, compiling an 8-6 record after the age of 40. Couture, 41 at the time, reclaimed the light heavyweight crown with a third-round technical knockout of Belfort at UFC 49 on Aug. 21, 2004. Two-plus years later, he emerged from a brief retirement and took a five-round unanimous decision from Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 to capture the heavyweight title for a third time. At 43 years, eight months and nine days, Couture remains the oldest competitor ever to win a UFC championship.

Enshrined in the Pioneer Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame, Couture still ranks as one the best over-40 fighters of all-time. Here are four others to consider:

Dan Henderson: An Olympic-caliber wrestler with a howitzer of a right hand, Henderson was a two-division titleholder in Pride Fighting Championships who later struck gold in Strikeforce. His remarkable career touched three different decades and saw him excel at the sport’s highest levels well past his physical prime. Henderson fought 14 times after he turned 40 and broke even at a respectable 7-7, with wins over Renato Sobral, Fedor Emelianenko, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (twice), Tim Boetsch and Hector Lombard. The Californian brought home the Strikeforce light heavyweight championship when buried Rafael Cavalcante with punches in the third round of their March 5, 2011. Henderson was 172 days shy of his 41st birthday.

Fedor Emelianenko: Perhaps no fighter in MMA history drew more widespread reverence than “The Russian Emperor” during his near 1,700-day reign in Pride. Emelianenko captured the company’s heavyweight crown on March 16, 2003 and stayed at the top of the division until the Japanese organization closed its doors in 2007. His encounter with Mirko Filipovic at Pride Final Conflict 2005 was one of the most anticipated fights of all-time. Emelianenko defeated the Croatian kickboxer by unanimous decision in front of 47,628 fans at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. He was a box-office draw well into his 40s, posting wins over former UFC champions Quinton Jackson and Frank Mir. Emelianenko retired at the age of 46 in 2023.

Glover Teixeira: Known for his ferocious ground-and-pound, top-shelf submission skills and unshakable resolve, the Brazilian brute carved out quite a career for himself across more than two decades of hand-to-hand combat. Teixeira won 17 of his first 19 bouts and a Shooto Brazil title before he arrived in the UFC and established himself as an immediate contender at 205 pounds. Losses to Jon Jones, Phil Davis, Anthony Johnson, Alexander Gustafsson and Corey Anderson slowed his ascent and delayed his championship pursuits, but his persistence paid dividends despite his being beyond his physical peak. Teixeira captured the undisputed light heavyweight crown at UFC 267, where he submitted Jan Blachowicz with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their main event on Oct. 30, 2021—two days after he turned 42.

Andrei Arlovski: The epitaph was written for Arlovski’s career many times over the years, only to see the Belarusian redefine himself and succeed when most observers had long since counted him out. He held the UFC heavyweight title from Aug. 12, 2005 to April 15, 2006 but eventually moved on to compete in various other companies, from Strikeforce and Affliction to the World Series of Fighting, ONE Championship and Fight Nights Global. Arlovski later returned to the UFC and enjoyed something of a renaissance in his mid-30s. “The Pit Bull” went a respectable 7-7 in 14 outings after the age of 40, though he was eventually released by the UFC in 2024. Arlovski currently ranks second on the UFC’s all-time list in appearances (42) and victories (23), having spent almost seven hours of fight time inside the Octagon.

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