John Williams

John Williams was a Canadian mixed martial artist who became the oldest active professional mixed martial artist at age 70, when he made his professional fight debut against Larry Brubaker on 24 July 2010.

Early life Williams belonged to the Native American tribe Wabenaki and was a direct ancestor of the great Wabenaki war chief Madockaweando. Although having his own practice which kept him busy in the sport, Williams went on to teach a variety of seminars all over the world. Williams brought the sport of MMA to Canada and also was one of the first record holders of several different events. Williams wanted to prove that he was not just another senior citizen in society, but that he was capable of achieving victory in a professional fight; which many people thought was impossible at his age.

In an interview prior to his match, Williams said, "I went and got information on discrimination towards a person because of age, and I realized that if I say this is my job and I’m physically capable of doing the job, there was no way in the world they could stop me. This had nothing to do with risk factors. When you know what you’re doing, MMA is safe. I could have done an amateur thing or an exhibition, but no, I wanted to do a real fight."

The 70-year-old Williams set three records that night. He became the oldest debuting MMA fighter, the oldest active MMA fighter, and the oldest winning MMA fighter. Williams won his match by ankle lock in the second round.

In an interview after his record-making victory, Williams said, "The point of life is living it. And I tell you, I got in that cage and I felt alive. I felt human again. You get that thing over your head, people think you’re 70 and you don’t know [expletive]. They don’t bother to get to know you. I like Eminem. I like rap music. …Mentally, I feel the same as I did when I was 30. I like the same kind of cars, make the same kind of ridiculous claims, and the enjoy same kinds of women. Nothing’s changed for me, but there’s this stereotype. You don’t change, but they try and make you fit a mold and be something you don’t want to be, which is an old person. Not me. I’ve been a fighter all my life."