Athletes
Vinc Pichel: 'The Sky's The Limit'
Lightweight Vinc Pichel, The Oldest Active UFC Fighter, Makes His 12th Walk To The Octagon To Challenge Rafa Garcia At UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Erceg On Saturday, March 29
Vinc Pichel is currently the last man standing. At 42, the California native is the oldest fighter on the current UFC roster, nearly 13 years into his career with the promotion, and about to make the walk to the Octagon for the 12th time to face Rafa Garcia this Saturday in Mexico City.
What’s the secret to this MMA fountain of youth?
“Honestly, it's just enjoying yourself,” Pichel said. “I found that mindset is so important above anything else in fighting. And I think really enjoying and loving what you do is just so important. Because everyone that I've always seen that's grown old, that the thing that I noticed is they're just happy. Not to say that life's easy for them, but even when they're going through bulls**t, they're like, ‘Ah, it is what it is. It'll be good. The sun's coming down, but it's going to come right back up tomorrow, so no big deal.’ So I think that mindset right there is a big part of it because that's just how I am day-to-day. I get my ass kicked some days, but I'm also like, f**k it, there's always tomorrow.”
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In the Factory X gym in Colorado, there are going to be days like that, but for veterans like Pichel, the ability to take those days and both learn from them and discard them is key. That only comes from experience. And in his early 40s, Pichel has plenty of that, in and out of the gym. Sadly, when most hit that age, though, the body doesn’t want to do what the head wants it to anymore. As Mike Tyson famously said, he “got old too soon and smart too late.” Pichel isn’t 25, but he still has the grit and knowledge to put it on the young kids.
“To be honest, sometimes I got to check these mother**kers in the gym,” he laughs. “Today was jits day and yesterday was wrestling, and I'm a decent offensive wrestler, but my defensive wrestling isn't really all day. I've never really cared about it because someone takes me down, they're in trouble, not me. I'm the shark in the water, not them. And so, days like today, today's my day to remind them that I am who I am, and there's a reason why I'm still in there whooping their asses. It don't matter what they're going to try on me. I'm too old school for that. I'm going to tear them up.”
Confidence has never been an issue for Pichel, and it isn’t now. But goals have changed over the years, so while everyone asks about the title, the title, the title, Pichel wouldn’t mind a crack at a belt, but he’s realistic at the same time.
RELATED: Vinc Pichel's Athlete Profile
“I just want to fight and get paid for it,” he said. “I'm thinking if I dropped to ‘45, I could easily compete with the Top 10 guys because it'd be beating up on little kids at that weight class.(Laughs) But my goal right now is honestly just to be able to support my family. And the ultimate goal is to buy some land, and I ultimately want a little farm. I'm going to be a little farmer Vinc out here, a little farmer from hell.”
Farmer Vinc can put some money aside for that goal with a win against Garcia. After that, he’s hoping to stay more active after injuries limited him to one fight a year since 2019, with the exception of 2023, when he didn’t fight at all. He did go 3-2 during that stretch with three straight wins over Roosevelt Roberts, Jim Miller and Austin Hubbard, but the back-to-back losses to Mark Madsen and Ismael Bonfim have him hungrier than usual to get his hand raised. So how much more does he have to go?
“The sky's the limit,” Pichel said. “When my body tells me it's time to slow down, I'm going to slow down. But, like I said before, that's probably not going to happen until you see a difference in me and the younger guys in the gym. Because I'll tell you what, some of the young guys at the gym are asking me how the f**k I'm doing it sometimes. They're confused at why I’m still wearing them out.”
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Dare I say that Vinc Pichel is at peace?
“A little bit,” he said. “I still got that hole in me that wants to f**k s**t up and destroy things,but, as a whole, yeah, I'm a peace now and I'm happy. My mindset now is just unfuckwithable. I'm sure people probably think I'm wild because my Twitter is a little out there and I tell it like itis and I don't hold back. But yeah, I'm nothing but satisfied with where I've come from and what I've done and where I'm today. It's been a crazy road, it's been super tough, and I've gone through a lot of heartache, a lot of turmoil. There’s been a lot of pain in my life. But, on the other side of that, there's been a lot of great things, too, and I've got to do a lot of cool things I never thought I'd be able to get to do. I've got to meet people, and you know what really makes me feel good now is being a role model to people.”
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He may not want to hear it, but yeah, Pichel is a good guy, and one who’s always been honest about who he is and where he stands in the world of mixed martial arts. So you know he couldn’t hang up the phone without telling his true goal for the next chapter of his career.
“I was thinking the other day, I fought at UFC 173 and I fought on 273. Maybe I'll make it to 373. (Laughs) It's right around the corner.”
UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Erceg took place live from Arena CDMX in Mexico City on March 29, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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