Issue 103
July 2013
The way of Russian warrior Emelianenko was as mental as it was physical
Fedor Emelianenko, as it turned out, was not created in a Russian top-secret government laboratory and was in fact proven to be human after all when submission specialist Fabricio Werdum dethroned ‘The Last Emperor’ back in 2010. But whatever your opinion of the former Pride master, Fedor dominated champions from all corners of the globe for over a decade and will remain one of the greatest heavyweights in the history of fight sports.
JOE BELL
Chartered sport psychologist and one of few mental performance coaches specializing in combat sport, each issue he provides tips to improve your approach
Under the iron curtain that shrouds this heavy-handed sambist and judoka lays the secrets to his psychological make-up and possible answers as to why so many fighters who fell by his hand, admit in hindsight they believe they lost the fight long before they ever stepped inside the ring. Whether it was intentional or not, the Rubezhnoe, Luhansk, native had the ability to get inside his opponents’ heads and break them from within. By using psychological profiling, here are a few ways he did it.
MOTIVATION
Believe it or not, one of the main driving forces behind Fedor was to make certain he could feed his family. “Years ago we hardly had anything to eat. Now I earn more money and I see every opponent as a man that tries to put me back to that poorer period. That man has to be eliminated,” he said once.
Hunger is an extremely powerful and complicated form of psychological motivation. It’s the fundamental requirement for survival and anyone who has ever experienced prolonged hunger knows the level of physical and psychological distress associated with it, and they will do all in their power, often going to extremes, to avoid it.
HEARSAY And RESPECT
When prominent and well-respected figures in MMA blow smoke up another fighter, it can set light to the fuse of doubt in an opponent’s mind. Referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy says: “Fedor is absolutely in the same categories of, you know, the Wayne Gretzkys, and the Michael Jordans.”
And when past and present champions – guys who really know what they’re talking about – pay homage to a fellow competitor’s skill and status you know it carries some truth.
When Georges St Pierre was asked who is the best pound-for-pound of all time, he chose Fedor. Bas Rutten too stands by his word and still believes Emelianenko will always be the greatest, whilst Tim Sylvia admitted after he shared a ring with him: “I’ve never been hit that hard before. I don’t even think he’s human.” It is very hard for fighters to ignore statements like this.
INTIMIDATION
Fedor’s raw ability to deliver bombs with speed and without blinking an eye combined with an eerily calm demeanor that appeared to be devoid of all emotion created a very serious and frightening psychological enigma for his foes.
Very rarely did he make eye contact, but when he did it was short and it would seem as if he were looking through his opponent, the kind of characteristics you might associate with those suffering from psychopathic personality disorder: cold, detached and emotionless.
Wanderlei Silva has always had a menacing staredown, but Fedor’s topped them all. According to the man himself: “When I walk into a fight, I’m trying not to think about anything; collect myself and concentrate. And going into a fight, I don’t feel any emotions, neither anger nor compassion. I don’t emotionalize. I’m going into a fight with a clear mind... During the fight, my senses dim and basically I don’t feel any pain.”
FAITH
“I understand that everything that happens, happens according to God’s plan,” Fedor explains. “I don’t make any predictions. It’s fighting, it’s life, and the fight can go either way.” This would have increased his external locus of control (a person’s belief that his fate is determined by a force greater than they are) consequently freeing Fedor to mentally fixate solely on training, thus reducing the level of worry about fight outcomes because, as far as he was concerned, it was in the hands of God.
This unique combination of motivation, respect, skill, power, mental strength, and spirituality are only a few elements that made Fedor a force to be reckoned with, and why so many fighters found themselves being ‘Fedorized’ even before the first bell.
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