The 16 Greatest Fighters to Win After Turning 40

Twenty years into a career, most fighters are commentating. These ones were still getting their hands raised.

1

George Foreman

Won the heavyweight title back at 45, twenty years after losing it in Zaire.

1000pts

2

Vitor Belfort

Knocked out Nate Marquardt at 38 and was still finishing fights past 40.

1000pts

3

Dan Henderson

Knocked out Hector Lombard at 44 and Michael Bisping at 45.

862pts

4

Evander Holyfield

Still beating ranked heavyweights at 43, a decade after the Tyson fights.

862pts

5

Bernard Hopkins

Won a world title at 49, the oldest man ever to hold one.

764pts

6

Andrei Arlovski

Won UFC fights past 43, twenty years after taking the heavyweight title.

764pts

7

Anderson Silva

Stopped Tyron Woodley in the second round in December 2025, aged 50.

647pts

8

Wladimir Klitschko

Defended the heavyweight title six times after turning 40.

647pts

9

Randy Couture

Won the UFC heavyweight title at 43 by outboxing a man twenty years younger.

503pts

10

Holly Holm

Beat ranked bantamweights in her forties, more than a decade after her boxing career.

503pts

11

Fedor Emelianenko

Won four straight fights in his forties, including a knockout of Frank Mir at 41.

503pts

12

Aleksei Oleinik

Kept submitting UFC heavyweights into his mid-forties with the Ezekiel choke.

503pts

13

Manny Pacquiao

Won a welterweight world title at 40 by beating Keith Thurman in 2019.

323pts

14

Mark Hunt

Knocked out Frank Mir and Antonio Silva in his forties on pure hand speed.

323pts

15

Roy Jones Jr.

Won a cruiserweight title at 40 after four world titles in four divisions.

323pts

16

Yoel Romero

Beat Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold at 39 and 40 in consecutive fights.

323pts