Fighters who used mind games the best in the Octagon

Some fighters use their physical weapons in the cage, and some people get into mental warfare. If you have the physical tools and on top of that start getting into mind games, that can be a highly deadly combination. Three guys have been most successful with this tool of mind warfar:

1. Anderson Silva

Putting his hands down, letting you hit him, dodging out of the way, and a variety of different antics have been used by Anderson Silva to throw off his opponent's games. He is able to prey upon fighters' insecurities and bring them out in the UFC Octagon. It didn't end up working against Chris Weidman, but it is important to note that if Weidman didn't land the fourth strike of the combination he fired at Silva to end the fight, the bout could have ended drastically differently. Because Weidman was getting angry and charged at Silva, and if he missed four straight shots after that, then that could have turned the momentum totally in Silva's favor; he was keeping the fight on the feet and starting to shift the bout into his control.

2. Nick Diaz

"Why is your nose bleeding?"
"Oh, we're throwing spinning s**t now?"
These are the sorts of verbal tongue lashings that Nick Diaz doled out to Carlos Condit in addition to slapping him in the face. Kudos to Carlos Condit for staying composed and not biting on the mind games, but many others aren't as mentally disciplined as Condit. Diaz's mind games in addition to his punching skills and endless endurance have made him a force at 170 his whole career. Go back to early in his UFC career when he fought Robbie Lawler; he was tagging Lawler and talking smack to him, slapping him, and Lawler got very angry and came at Diaz rushing in, only to be met with a straight punch that dropped him and ended the fight. Diaz is a master of boxing, cardio, and mental warfare.

3. Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock was tremendously strong in his mind, body, and spirit. He was another fighter who was able to expose his opponents' insecurities inside the cage. He would ask his opponents why they are breathing heavy, make a gesture that he is going to put them to sleep, and continually badger them with words and antics. It worked well for him in most of his fights and he used that mind trickery to mess with the head of the his foes in combat.


One thing to note is that using these techniques can be very effective, but if someone uses these techniques on you, you combat them and use them your advantage. Chris Weidman took the approach that if Anderson Silva stands there letting him punch him in the face, that's great, because now he's winning the fight. He's the one scoring points. Carlos Condit also was effective and stuck to his gameplan better than anyone against Nick Diaz on route to victory and showed incredible focus and discipline in the process.

You can change the way you perceive things. You can go into competition already thinking that if someone uses antics, this shows that they are not confident in themselves. Your opponent is no longer using his physical tools, but has to resort to other tactics. You can take the viewpoint that he is mentally breaking, running out of ideas, and grasping at straws, because he is insecure about using just his physical skills alone to win. That changes the way you frame things in you mind and the antics have a different energy because of your perception. Instead of a sign of confidence and bravado, now in your mind it is a sign of weakness in your opponent that he's resorting to these tactics; now you have the mental edge in your brain; which is the only point of view which matters in competition.

Additionally, you can mentally prepare to use your opponent's smack-talking and antics as an "anchor". So you can visualize your opponent doing what he normally does in terms of mental games, and the second he does that, you can visualize yourself successfully landing techniques on him. Basically conditioning your mind to get into a state where you're totally confident and in the zone when you see your opponent doing these things. For example, when you mentally rehearse reacting to something your opponent does or says, think of a time where you were totally on fire and in the zone and landing your techniques with total precision, accuracy, and confidence. Feel the feelings associated with this, hear the sounds, and get a clear mental picture of it all. The more you practice visualizing this success after picturing your opponent engaging in mental ware, then when it happens in combat, you are prepared for it and you have mentally conditioned yourself to get into a peak performance mindset when it happens. So instead of being a negative factor during competition, it becomes a positive one.

Mike Tyson, Roy Nelson and Mario Balotelli on doing their jobs

Roy Nelson was once asked what he did to pump himself up for a fight, and he said he didn't need to do that because it's his job. Just like one doesn't need to pump themselves up to go to work every morning, he feels the same way about fighting.

That attitude of just doing your job, and looking at an athletic competition as such, is something that can take the negative stress away from the situation. It's also something that just allows one to let the greatness they've trained for flow out of them easily. Like Italian footballer Mario Balotelli, who doesn't celebrate, because there's no point in celebrating doing your job:
“I don’t celebrate because I’m only doing my job. When a postman delivers letters, does he celebrate?”

Baolotelli just expects that foot to go into the top corner when he kicks it.

Mike Tyson, one of the great boxers of all time, had a similar attitude as seen in this video on Jim Rome's how. Tyson was inspired by his trainer Cus D'Amato, who felt it was ridiculous to celebrate because winning and achieving your goal was what you expected to do. It shouldn't be a surprise. That's not to say it's bad to celebrate your win or to not be happy, but in general, having a work-man-like attitude and treating the victory as just a part of the job which you expected to happen, can make that climb to the top seem like it's one that is out of reach; rather it's something you expect to occur.

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Imagery / Visualization during competition

Visualization is something that a lot of athletes, including mixed martial arts fighters, use before competition. They visualize executing their game plans and oftentimes just visualize the goal; suchas having your hand raised at the end of competition or having the UFC gold placed around your waist, if it's a title fight. Making these visualizations are real as possible (feeling the feelings, hearing the sounds, seeing the faces and objects clearly) helps the process tremendously.

But aside from doing these sorts of visualization / imagery techniques before competition, they can also be done during competition; like in between rounds. There's a book entitled Imagery in Sports and Physical Performance, which was edited by Anees A. Sheikh and Errol R. Korn, which gives great insight into this practice:

 

So for a fighter, he or she can take the advice that the corner is giving them in between rounds, and simultaneously make a mental movie of executing said techniques. While drinking water and taking deep breaths, one can also multi-task in that minute break in between rounds to visualize executing the plan; whether it's landing the jab, throwing a high kick, or a certain set up to a takedown. Whatever game plan tips that one's corner is doling out in between rounds, those can be instantly materialized in the mind to make the practice of those techniques in the cage moments later, easier to execute.

Feeding your subconscious mind with positive thoughts

"Nurture you mind with great thoughts". A quote from Icelandic welterweight star in the UFC, Gunnar Nelson. Doing the act of nurturing your mind with great thoughts can be likened to planting seeds; it's the seeds which are planted which allow the growth of the beautiful flowers, vegetation, and trees. The planting these great thoughts will manifest in the future, as you long as you continue to water them, so to speak: as long as you continue to repeat them in your mind.

It's about programming the subconscious mind. It is believed that 90 to 95% of the time we are operating on the software of our subconscious mind; so if we can program that mind to believe the things that we want it to believe, then the results can be astounding. One of the ways to do this is via affirmations, and really feeling the feelings associated with the affirmations and getting into these affirmations as much as possible. Having that ultra realistic feeling of sensing all the senses in the affirmations, visualizing them, and generating the emotions associated with them, amplifies their impact.

Rashad Evans, who holds a degree in Psychology, feels the power of affirmations can be strong. In the video at the bottom of this post, around 5:40 into it; he explains that he was able to gain a stronger conviction in himself and belief in his abilities via the nurturing of great thoughts in his mind:

"I am the best"
"I won't be beat"
"I can't be beat"
"No one can beat me"
These mantras are just words but after a while it becomes a conviction in my soul.

The last line is a key component to all this: after a while it's a deep conviction. No longer is it work to try and force these beliefs onto yourself; but rather it's just a fact. Just like when you slip a switch you know the light comes on, or when you turn a faucet you know the water will drip; you just know and accept these great thoughts as facts. All of a sudden it's a just a natural thing to think that you are great and can do great things.

The sky blue, the sun is hot, I am great.

It's just something that is part of our reality and requires no thinking at this point. That's when the subconscious mind just accepts this and you operate from that position 90 to 95% of the time without even thinking.

Emotionless Competition

Rory MacDonald lost his second UFC fight to Carlos Condit, and one of the reasons he felt he came up short was getting too emotional from his home crowd in Vancouver, and consequently gassing out towards the end of the fight and getting battered in the third round. However, MacDonald learned a valuable lesson that day about controlling his emotions, and from then on he has taken the direct opposite approach about being very dispassionate and unemotional about his work in the cage, and just executing his technique in the finest form possible.

 

In an interesting book Making Sense of Sports by Ernest Ellis and Ernest Cashmore, the authors noted that mentally tough athletes are not emotionless but very adept at shutting out this distractions in competition:

 

Many fighters are very good at keeping their emotions at check in the cage. For instance Ronda Rousey, through her thousands of matches in Judo has learned how to fine tune her emotional state to achieve peak levels of performance in combat. Conor McGregor, the Irish UFC featherweight star also banishes emotions but rather takes a calm and creative approach to his fighting. Some fighters however do get fueled by emotion and it works for them; such as Diego Sanchez and Benson Henderson, who admits he is an emotional person and needs to draw upon that to get into peak performance state. Additionally, Michael Bisping seems to get a special edge from anger, and even when he was competing against his nemesis Jorge Rivera, in between rounds he was fuelled by anger. So there is no hard and fast rules to this that one must absolutely follow, but for general best practices it's often a good thing to avoid emotions in competition, especially anger, which as coach John Danaher says, "Anger just makes people inefficient. Their breathing gets shallow, they're too muscularly tense; they gas faster."

 

 

 

Champions on Plateaus and Mastery

In Dr. Jerry Lynch's book The Way of the Champion: Lessons from Sun Tzu's the Art of War and Other Tao Wisdom for Sports & Life, he discusses how perceived plateaus in your game are actually a challenge to reach a level of mastery. Rather than looking at plateaus as adversaries, view them as a champion would...as a friend:

 

 

This idea falls completely in line with a quote from legendary martial artist, Bruce Lee, who stated:

 

There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.

Brazilian-Japanese UFC sensation Lyoto Machida, also knows the power of plateaus and transcending them to the point of mastery. If you watch him fight he has pinpoint accuracy and knows the precise time to counter-attack a foe who is trying to pounce on him. For Machida, he continues to persevere and blast through all perceived limiting believes about "plateaus":

Rory MacDonald's Attitude towards Trash Talkers

Rory MacDonald has faced some trash-talking individuals over the course of his career, including his UFC on Fox 8 opponent in Jake Ellenberger. But MacDonald takes a very removed and objective approach to the situation:

I fight strangers and people pay me to do it...If the stranger I'm fighting has something to say about me, it's meaningless.

For MacDonald, he sees no point in even thinking about the remarks other fighters say about him because it makes no impact on his performance. 

Chris Weidman on Winning in Sparring

Chris Weidman is a mild-mannered, polite, and respectful UFC middleweight champion, but he's highly competitive; which is one of the reasons why he's been able to reach the top of the mountain in mixed martial arts at 185. On ESPN's Highly Questionable with Dan Le Batard and Bomani Jones, Weidman explains how having a competitive nature in sparring translates into competing in the UFC Octagon:

In sparring I might have lost a round or two, but very rarely...I try to win every single freakin' round of every sparring session, I don't care who I'm going against. I'm very competitive and I know that translates into when you're in the Octagon performing.

Focusing on breathing and the present moment

In the book Winning Habits: Techniques for Excellence in Sports by B. P. Bam, the author notes that focusing on your breathing (in and out breaths) can be a very effective tool in being focused on the present moment. That focus allows one to not fear what is happening in the future, or regret what has happened moments ago:

Swedish UFC superstar Alexander Gustafsson also in an interview with Karate by Jessie that breathing can be a vital in the elevation process to success:

My best advice for mental training is simply to create good habits, in order to build a sense of security and calm around you. Also, you could try to distance yourself emotionally from the whole situation. In my case, I just look at it objectively: We are two guys going inside a cage to work. That’s it. Try to de-escalate the pressure. Take a couple of deep breaths. Don’t hype things up. And stay positive, even if you’re fighting for your life.

Smooth and Attack

In Saul L. Miller's book Performing Under Pressure: Gaining the Mental Edge in Business and Sport, he discusses how two words "smooth" and "attack" can refocus him to what he needs to do. Smooth when he's overaggressive and attack when he's a tad bit too laid back:

 

It's about finding the right balance needed for a particular situation. If you need a little more energy you can think "attack" in your mind. Or if you're getting bit overaggressive, angry, frustrated, or out of control, think "smooth".

 

It's somewhat similar to when Bruce Lee speaks of being calm but alert in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do:

“Not being tense but ready. Not thinking but not dreaming. Not being set but flexible. Liberation from the uneasy sense of confinement. It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come.”

Smiling during competition and refocusing after errors

Australian footballer (soccer player) Archie Thompson makes a very insightful statement about enjoying himself in the moment while playing and refocusing immediately after making errors. Beating yourself up for a mistake is just wasted time when you can instantly get back to reaching your highest potential in your craft. Thompson, who once scored 13 goals in a game, notes this in his book entitled What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger:

Jon Jones is a fighter who sometimes will showcase a smile to savor in the sport he loves and also because he feels he has done his absolute best in training. Additionally, Alex Caceres (AKA Bruce Leeroy) plants a big smile on himself to enjoy himself the most he can enter into combat and also to minimize stress levels on his body. In terms of being in the moment, former Bellator champion and top lightweight contender in the world, Eddie Alvarez, is someone who tries to empty his mind and react only to what is in the "now". He isn't worrying about what's going to happen one minute from now, or what happened one minute before, but completely immersed in the present moment.  

 

8 feelings of peak performance

In the book Warrior Speed by Ted Weimann, he illuminates us on the concept of peak performance and being the zone, but speaking to the eight peak performance feelings, which are being:

 

Just oft the top of my head comes an image of one mixed martial artist: Anderson Silva. Sure we witnessed Silva be knocked out for taking his clowning a bit too far against Chris Weidman; but aside from that, in some of his other fights, such as his bout with Forrest Griffin, you see him display all these traits. Anderson Silva is mentally relaxed, physically relaxed (hands down), highly confident and optimistic that he will succeed, focused in the present moment, highly energized, has extraordinary awareness, is in complete control, and seems to just let go to the process and allow the training to take over. Everything he does in the cage from the antics to the killer blows, he practices. Some other mixed martial artists give their take on being "in the zone":

 

Phil Davis on the Power of the Mind

 

For Phil Davis the mental aspect of the game is actually the whole game in itself. The power of the mind is what he relies on most:

The mental game is the entire game. The physical is only an extension of what you're capable of doing mentally. If you fatigue mentally, your body is fatigued. If you're frustrated...your body is now fatigued and it isn't moving as fast and it doesn't look as sharp. Mental toughness and the power of your mind is just really unbelievable.

Emptying the Mind and Being in the Zone

In the work The Mammoth Book of Tough Guys, by Robin Barratt, he describes being in the zone as being akin to having a state of mindlessness or thoughtlessness. It's a state where you empty the mind and are free to execute without any barriers and stop signs which emerge from dampening and negative thoughts:

The Zen term “Mushin”, meaning empty or no mind and what sports psychologists call “being in the zone” is to me, one in the same. The Japanese maxim “Tatakawa zushite katsu” declared by some Masters to be the true meaning of Budo states, “Winning without fighting by overcoming the enemy within”, for me holds true.

The terms "Mushin" is also something that Lyoto Machida talks about. It's no surprise because Machida grew up in an intense traditional martial arts environment with his Karate background, and with his father having Japanese ancestry, that Japanese concept is something that Lyoto uses right at the moment of combat:



Along the same lines, Icelandic UFC welterweight star Gunnar Nelson, takes a similar approach. He has a remarkably calm disposition that makes those taking a stroll through a park look intensely stress. He has found that when he is not thinking and worrying about competition, he performs best. He realized this when he competed in grappling and didn't realize he was going to be able to compete again in an absolute division bracket and was just hanging out with friends and having a laugh. But then suddenly his name was called to compete and he just went out there and had possibly his best submission grappling match of his life. So Gunnar Nelson stumbled upon a very effective sports psychology tool that day which he continues to use in the UFC:

Breathing Deeply

Breathing deeply is a refreshing way to calm yourself down, relax, and bring yourself into the present moment in competition. The present moment is like a portal to being "in the zone". Moreover, taking some calm deep breaths decreases tension muscles, reinvigorates your cardio, and actually is a bit of a boost in your confidence levels. The idea behind the rise in confidence is that the deep breath calms you and when you're calm you're in a more confident state. You don't need to be tense when you're walking in the park because it's easy as pie. It's not something that you are fearful or anxious about engaging in. There is complete confidence that you can walk through a park to the point that you do it without thinking. Breathing deeply can take you on subconscious level to a state such as that.

Another good blurb about breathing deeply comes from Experience Life Magazine:

Developing mental toughness begins with shutting out negative thoughts. Most sports psychologists agree that the best way to block unfavorable thoughts is to focus on breathing deeply.The brain can think of little else when focused on that one act. “You no longer focus on the distractions,” says Kenneth Baum, author of The Mental Edge (Perigree, 1999).

Don Williams on living in the present moment

Inspiring words from Don Williams, a mixed martial artist fighting past the age of 50.