Issue 146
October 2016
Expert advice to help prevent injury to your most valuable fighting weapon – your brain.
Fighting is 90% mental. Ask legendary MMA figures like Bas Rutten, Randy Couture and Frank Shamrock, and they’ll tell you it doesn’t matter whether you’re the most physically-gifted athlete in the world – if your head’s not right, you don’t stand a chance in the cage.
Back in September 2014, in the main event of UFC 178, Chris Cariaso should have experienced the greatest moment of his fighting life. The San Jose southpaw’s 22-fight, eight-year career had peaked at the perfect moment as he touched down in Las Vegas for fight week.
‘Kamikaze’ was reaping the rewards of a three-fight winning run by challenging 125lb number one Demetrious Johnson. But just when it mattered most, he crumbled.
“It was like, five minutes before my fight and I was having a panic attack,” he recalls. “I was like, ‘F**k this, I want to retire.’ It was ridiculous. I was like, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do? What am I even doing here?’”
Gripped by fear, all the productive and positive performances and experiences of a career that had led him to a UFC title shot suddenly deserted him. Anxiety took over and, Cariaso admits, it consumed him. “One of the biggest moments of my life was ahead of me, and I dropped the ball. It wasn’t me fighting out there.”
Cariaso was taken apart by ‘Mighty Mouse’ and submitted in the second round. His career never recovered. Two more defeats followed in 2015, before he retired in February.
But it’s not just athletes on the biggest stages that get struck by this kind of paralyzing fear. Sports performance coach, Dr Patrick Cohn, explains it can strike any athlete – whether they’re fighting in the MGM Grand or on a small amateur show. “Performance anxiety wears on all athletes, which can create a host of negative physical and mental issues that can damage performance.
“Physical changes, such as racing heart beats, difficulty breathing, tight muscles, upset stomach, jumpiness and an inability to produce smooth or fluid mechanics are common. And while the physical symptoms are difficult enough to deal with, it’s the mental worry that triggers the physical changes.”
KO’ING ANXIETY
Dr Cohn has four key concepts for you to grasp so you can tackle fear of competition and fight just like you’ve trained to
1. Understand what the ultimate fear is all about. Are you afraid to disappoint others, for example?
2. Challenge the rationality of your fear. What’s so important about it?
3. Learn how to embrace competition pressure rather than fear you will fail or feel disappointed.
4. Understand the reason you put in hours per week of training is to have fun and trust your skills in competition.
Fear of failing, inability to deal with adversity, problems with focusing and the overwhelming need to be perfect are the mental triggers that lead to performance anxiety. At its worst, it can actually feel like choking, so it’s essential to ensure you don’t freeze in a fight. But that takes much more than just a few deep breaths.
“To help overcome anxiety and fear, you can’t just do relaxation training. This is simply a band aid and does not address the real issue,” adds Cohn, “which I find is often related to fear of failure. Underneath the tension and worry you feel is something else you might not be aware of, such as the fear of embarrassment. And this too must be addressed before competing.”
Stockton syndrome
Even Nick Diaz feels the fear
Nick Diaz appears to be one of the most fearless fighters on the planet, but he admitted an anxiety affliction to Fox Sports before he fought Georges St Pierre.
“If you don’t find time to meditate and get all that negative out, and if you don’t have the right people being positive around you, this is a very scary job.
“I’ll admit to anxiety, but it has nothing to do with media or being in front of a camera It has to do with dealing with the sparring that I’m going to have from day to day.
“It’s healthy to laugh and be happy, but sometimes it’s hard because it takes me so far out of that state of mind to where I’m thinking of different ways I can lose.”
