That's what's great about MMA..you can be an over the hill athlete from any other sport, even strongman...and you can be a factor in MMA...any schmuck can do halfway good there.
Try that with boxing...see how far you get, LOL. he would be on a couple of local, televised undercards because of his name, get knocked out 2 or 3 times, and never be heard from again.
In MMA, he'll be getting a title shot with one of the sanctioning bodies in 6 months