Sharif Bogere
January 29, 2012
@FightPsych: Who were your heroes growing up?
Sharif: When i just started boxing I didn’t know any big names in boxing, only boxer I heard about was Mike Tyson. So I started knowing more boxers, guys like Sugar Shane Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya, the late Diego Corrales and Floyd Mayweather. They inspired me a lot when I got a chance to see their fights and watch these great fighters.
@FightPsych: Did you ever fight in school or on the streets?
Sharif: Oh my friend, I was a fighter before I entered a boxing gym. Me and my friends used to fight in the streets. At school we used to arrange fights after classes. We would go and fight in the evenings as a social event.
@FightPsych: At what point did you acquire your nickname “The Lion”?
Sharif: The name “The Lion” came from my fighting style by my boxing team.
@FightPsych: Do you use strategies to motivate yourself to train?
Sharif: My training is natural, when it’s time for training it’s time, my body and mind is used to this and set like a clock to be on point. I would say my body responds good to training, and I would say that’s a true blessing.
@FightPsych: What do you worry about in the weeks leading up to fights, and how do you cope with worrying?
Sharif: Worrying about the fights? That’s history to me. I used to worry when I was still a young boy. Now I’m a Lion and train so that I could take out any man that stands in my way!
@FightPsych: Please give some insight into your thoughts seconds before you fight. Sharif: Seconds before the fight, I just get anxious to get into that ring and do what I do best (let them combos go).
Thanks for your time. God bless you all.
Andy “Bunso” Paves
October 26, 2012
@FightPsych: Who were your heroes growing up?
Andy: Outside of superheroes and pro wrestlers, it was pretty much all athletes. I was particularly fond of Jim Abbott, a pitcher for the California Angels born with one hand. Then it was the athletes from the Seattle teams (where I’m from): Ken Griffey Jr., Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Cortez Kennedy. Looking back though, I knew nothing about them other than their accomplishments on the field. As I got older, I looked up to historical figures who were resilient and stood up for what they believe in. People like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi and from the Philippines, Jose Rizal and Cory Aquino. The ones that have been constant were always my family: My grandparents, parents and brothers.
Within the martial arts world, I definitely admired Bruce Lee, not only for his skills and innovation but for the philosophies by which he lived his life. Then of course there’s my coach, Ivan Salaverry whom has been an amazing teacher, mentor and friend. And there’s a ton of fighters I’ve looked up to over the years but my all time favorite/ influence has to be Sakuraba!
@FightPsych: Did you get into fights in high school?
Andy: Not a single one! Elementary school was a different story but the last fight I got into was I think 5th grade.
@FighPsych: At what point did you know that you wanted to be a fighter?
Andy: I attended PRIDE 33 in Vegas. It was my first live MMA event, and the rush just from watching the fights was incredible (it helped that it was one of the best fight events ever!). I could only imagine the feeling of actually being in there and I wanted to see for myself. Diaz vs. Gomi sealed the deal!
@FightPsych: Do you use strategies to motivate yourself to train for fights?
Andy: That’s a good one. It’s very hard to try and balance out school deadlines and other responsibilities on top of training. Some days I just have to accept that I won’t be able to get as much training in as I hoped or that I’ll have to fall behind with my work. Honestly I just need to meticulously lay out every hour of my day and schedule training sessions around my work. It helps to have a contingency to keep me on track – my teammates who are fighting around the same time and also my girlfriend who holds me accountable. Then obviously, having some great training music or inspirational movies gets me pumped up as well!
@FightPsych: Please give some insight into your thoughts, seconds before you fight.
Andy: Just a rush of many different thoughts. ”What the hell are you getting yourself into?”, “here we go again!”, “hands up! Chin down!”, “this guy’s trying to take your head off. Take his first!” and “this is your moment, show the world what you can do!” I would say that more than anything, I try to tell myself why I do this. That I love the sport and to enjoy every minute of it. Appreciate that I even get the opportunity! Because…what do I have to lose? (besides consciousness)
@FightPsych: I understand you are studying clinical psychology. Where are you at in your studies?
Andy: Pretty much ABD – (All about the dissertation) at this point. I just started my fourth year in the doctoral program. My life consists of recruiting participants and doing interviews for my dissertation study, tons of clinical work, writing papers, sometimes teaching, with the occasional conference or presentation thrown in. Always busy but never boring!
@FightPsych: Do you use skills that you have learned through your psychology training in the weeks and days leading up to fights?
Andy: Absolutely! The mental game is still criminally overlooked and it has helped my game immensely. Most of the skills I practice are derived from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques, Dialectical Behavior Therapy and mindfulness. I like to practice progressive muscle relaxation whenever I am visualizing the fight (which in itself is a meditation). I also try to practice radical acceptance – accepting that I have trained all that I can, to trust in my skills and not ruminate on the potential holes in my game. I also must accept that I WILL get hit at some point and that I WILL get tired – trying to take a relaxed stance if those things happen to me because if I tense up, the punches and kicks will hurt more or I’ll have a hard time recovering. Another great skill to practice is opposite action: doing the opposite of the emotion you feel. I find that something as simple as smiling helps to calm my nerves and even get me out of troublesome situations during training or the fight itself.
@FightPsych: What about during a fight?
Andy: I guess I answered quite a bit in the last section. Throughout the fight I try to keep in mind that my affective, mental, and physiological states are all intertwined (this is something that requires training in itself). I would say this is most important in between rounds. When trying to recover our energy, it’s important to breathe deeply and relax your muscles.
More than anything though I try to practice mindfulness – to be fully present each moment I’m in the cage. What I mean by that is I try to remove from my mind the future outcome (numerous studies have demonstrated that an intense fear of losing is very detrimental to performance), what the audience thinks, any potential distractions and focus on the here and now: the opponent in front of me, the arena I’m in, the fight, etc. It might sound a little hokey on the surface and I’m not sure if I can explain it all here, but you’d be surprised at how our thoughts might drift. Maybe we worry about losing or we keep our mind focused on the punch we just landed or got hit by. Focusing on the here and now has not only helped my performance but allows me to fully appreciate the experience as well (because as we all know, we’ll only have so many opportunities to do this).
@FightPsych: Looking back over your career to date, which 3 fights come to mind first? Why do these fights stand out for you?
Andy:
My first pro fight vs. Mike Chiesa – mainly because of what he has gone on to do since then. I can name drop that I fought him and was able to ward off his rear naked choke attempts! In all seriousness, it was a tough, back-and-forth fight that I learned a lot from. No regrets whatsoever about the result. And of course you always remember your first pro fight. The fact that he went on to such big things is an added bonus. He deserves all of his success.
Amateur title fight vs. Ian “The Mule” Williams – Ian’s a great local fighter out of WA. At the time he was undefeated with all first round finishes. This would turn out to be my last amateur fight and you couldn’t have set it up any better: for a title, against an undefeated stud and broadcast on local TV. Couldn’t have worked out any better as I caught him with a clean punch early and scored a TKO. A big deal when you consider that I’m not much of a KO guy and Ian has been on a roll since then, going 6-1 as a pro – all finishes. It was the type of night that dreams are made of, and probably the purest form of emotional expression I’ve ever experienced.
Third pro fight vs. Ken “The Athlete” Alexander – This was just a couple months ago but it stands out because I think it was my most entertaining fight. Ken lives up to his nickname – very fast with some heavy hands. We threw everything at each other: elbows, knees, kicks, takedowns, subs, you name it. I came away with the decision but definitely felt the effects for a couple weeks! Yet somehow it was the most fun I’ve had in the cage and really the first time I felt fully confident in every aspect of my game.
@FightPsych: Please offer one piece of advice on life, business or women.
Andy: Check my twitter account: @BunsoPaves_PhD … I probably offer something every day. 🙂
Suggested Reading
The Neuroscience of Choking
Mindfulness Basics
Mindfulness for Beginners
DBT Self Help
Ryan Couture
November 23, 2011
Ryan: Xtreme Couture this is Ryan.
@FightPsych: Good afternoon Ryan it’s Gareth Hobbs calling. How are you?
Ryan: Good how are you?
@FightPsych: I’m very well. Thank you very much for this opportunity.
Ryan: Yeah, no problem.
@FightPsych: I’m hoping to ask you 7 questions if that’s ok?
Ryan: Yeah, that should be fine.
@FightPsych: Ok. First one, did you ever fight in school?
Ryan: Aah, no. Not at all. I was always one to talk my way out of that sort of an issue.
@FightPsych: What do you worry about in the weeks leading up to a fight and how do you cope with worrying?
Ryan: Usually it’s not as much a matter of worrying. If anything I guess sometimes I stress sometimes about weight, if my weight cut is on track or not. I think I get nervous about that even if I don’t need to, just because it’s a stressful thing. And then other than that, just ah, sometimes you question whether you’ve done everything to prepare or not, but usually my coaches have me right on track so there’s really not too much that I have to worry about.
@FightPsych: Do you use strategies to keep yourself motivated leading up to a fight?
Ryan: I think for me, just knowing that there’s somebody that’s eager to get in the cage and try and hurt me is plenty of motivation so I usually don’t have to get too creative to stay motivated. Once I have my routine set in or my schedule set in I show up to every workout without thinking twice.
@FightPsych: Can you please give some insight into your thoughts 30 seconds before a fight?
Ryan: 30 seconds before.. So you know, just kinda coming to that tunnel and getting ready for them to call your name and ah.. waiting to hear the music fire up, um, you know you get those last second butterflies, but more than anything the mindset is just sort of, well.. there’s no turning back now. It’s time to go do this and ah, get it over with.
@FightPsych: Can you talk to me a little bit about being coached in between rounds. What messages do you find helpful and what messages do you or would you not find helpful?
Ryan: I think it’s gotta be kept very simple because obviously when you’re that tired and have that adrenalin running, um, you know it’s tough to really, you know.. you’re not really thinking like you normally would. You can’t really step back and analyze things too well. You know, so just ah whatever quick, simple little adjustments or encouragements or reminders of the game plan, if I’m off track or reminders of what’s working if things are going well, um, is all I need usually to stay focused in and keep myself working in the right direction.
@FightPsych: Renzo Gracie kindly sent in a question. He states “you have a very good guard game, great triangles and arm lock attacks. How much work do you put into your jiu jitsu”?
Ryan: Um, especially between fights I don’t like to do a lot of sparring because I don’t see the sense in putting all the extra wear and tear on my body, so I tend to spend more time going to grappling classes and just.. getting rounds in on the ground and rolling and then once I kind of get started into training camp and I spend always, uh, two days a week with Neil my jiu jitsu coach, working on technique and there’s always a couple a days a week of light work as well, so that’s probably the thing that I spend the most time on because you know, no matter where I’m at in the training cycle you can go hard and really hit the grappling hard without any real side effects.
@FightPsych: Could you please offer advice to those who choose to tread the same path as a successful parent?
Ryan: Parent? I’m not a parent, so I’m not sure I’d be in a position to offer that advice.
@FightPsych: No, no. Please offer advice to those who choose to tread the same path as a successful parent, so you know, you’re treading the same path as your father.
Ryan: Oh, I get you, I get you. You know, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Make sure it’s something that you really want to be doing because there is a lot of extra nonsense and a lot of extra attention that’s going to come along with the success that you’re sort of following behind. You’ve gotta have realistic expectations and realistic goals for yourself and not worry too much about uh, you know, living up to the example that’s been set ahead of you or, you know? You can’t focus on that too much but just focus on enjoying what you’re doing and make sure you’re doing it for those right reasons. That’s kind of my thing. You know, for me, I know that I’m doing this because it’s what I love to do and you know, whether I ever get to the level in my career that my dad set is completely secondary because I know, wherever I end up I will have enjoyed the ride and I’ve been doing it because it’s what I wanted to be doing.
@FightPsych: Thank you very much for your time.
Ryan: Yeah, my pleasure.
Rolles Gracie
January 6, 2012
@FightPsych: Did you ever fight anybody in school?
Rolles: In Brazil a lot of the time I had to fight. I was always the tallest of the kids my age so it was natural for me to hang out with kids 2 or 3 years older than me, and sometimes I had to prove that I belonged there.
@FightPsych: Do you use strategies to keep yourself motivated to train & to fight?
Rolles: I hate to lose, so I know if I don’t do my homework my chances of losing increase. Another thing is that I’m carrying an important flag representing my family and all our students and I’ll always do my best to not disappoint them.
@FightPsych: What do you worry about in the weeks leading up to fights & how do you cope with worrying?
Rolles: The only thing I worry about is staying healthy and avoiding injuries.
@FightPsych: Seconds before fighting I imagine many thoughts pass through a fighter’s mind. Please provide some insight into your thoughts seconds before you fight.
Rolles: I just try to keep my mind empty, focused on the game plan. Seconds before the fight all the work is done. The only thing left is to put it in practice.
@FightPsych: In your experience, how do people change as they progress through the Jiu Jitsu ranks, besides obtaining mastery of jiu jitsu techniques?
Rolles: The thing you notice is their posture, the way they walk and the way they behave. The most important thing jiu jitsu can provide is confidence. I can see as they progress the more confident they get. It kinda changes their attitude.
Braulio Estima
January 18, 2012
@FightPsych: Who were your heroes growing up?
Braulio: I’ve always liked to see Saulo Ribeiro, Roleta, Robinho and of course Rickson Gracie.
@FightPsych: When you were 10 it is reported that your judo instructor tragically lost his life in a motorcycle accident & that you did not train for 6 years. What were those 6 years like for you?
Braulio: Well I was a bit frustrated when I found out my instructor had passed away. I decided to do something completely different. I started playing football and trying many sports.
@FightPsych: Did you ever fight in school?
Braulio: I never had a big blast in school. I probably had a little fight when I was 8 hahahah.
@FightPsych: Do you use strategies to motivate yourself to train?
Braulio: My main strategy is to keep improving myself, so I’m always trying something new and then this becomes my little goal until I master it.. That’s why you see throughout my career I’m fighting differently every year…
@FightPsych: In 2009 you were the ADCC champion in both your weight division & the open division. Do your tactics change when you compete against heavier opponents?
Braulio: Yes, I think we need to adapt our game according to who we fight. You cannot fight at the same pace with everyone all the time. A fight is between 2 people so therefore is not only about you but how the opponent reacts, and the reactions are related to the body size of your opponent.
@FightPsych: I imagine many thoughts pass through a fighter’s mind seconds before a fight. Please give some insight into your thoughts seconds before you compete.
Braulio: I don’t think too much. I’m just very focused and I concentrate to put my game plan in place. I just keep thinking positively all the time.
@FightPsych: Georges St-Pierre reportedly invited you to be one of his Jiu Jitsu coaches. In your opinion, what is it about him that enables him to repeatedly defend his title?
Braulio: He is a very clever fighter and combined with his athleticism and techniques, he becomes a fighter very hard to beat. He is not the greatest`in every particular area of MMA but he is the greatest at putting it together.
Jacob Duran
May 23, 2012
@FightPsych: How did your first experience as a cutman come about?
Jacob: My first experience as a cutman came when I had my own kickboxing school and outside of training fighters I also managed them. Wrapping hands and working cuts was something I wanted to include to be able to take care of the fighters. My first cut was a simple cut that required direct pressure to stop the bleeding. I cut a piece of tape and applied it to the cut in the form of a butterfly and David Rooney, the fighter said “you save me stitches, I am going to call you Stitch”.
@FightPsych: Please describe your education and training related to your role as a cutman.
Jacob: My education as a cutman was learning in the trenches. I tried to study the boxing cutmen and mimic what they did. One guy actually told me to”fuck off” because he learned from his master and was taking his knowledge to his grave. That moment I decided not to be like him and instead educate anyone who asked me a question.
@FightPsych: What do you worry about in the moments leading up to fights and how do you cope with worrying?
Jacob: With all the fights I have worked I do not worry before a fight anymore. I do in fact work on preparing my equipment to make sure I have everything I need from gauze, tape, gloves, vaseline, endswells, water, ice and my medications. I always instruct people who are learning to always prepare for the worst case scenario. I do make sure that my uniform is always ironed!
@FightPsych: Looking back over your career to date, have you faced an injury that stands out in your mind more so than any other?
Jacob: I have to say that the worst injury has to be when Cory Hill broke his leg fighting Dale Hart. I had never seen such an injury and to experience the pain that Cory was going through made me be there at his side trying to comfort him. This last weekend at Strikeforce, my friend Josh Barnett took a pretty good beating from Daniel Cormier. That one hurt me on a personal side because I have become good friends with Josh.
@FightPsych: Do you take your work home with you in the form of thoughts or dreams?
Jacob: I always take my job home with me. I study just about every fight that is on TV and try to always learn. My wife and family understand that this is my job and they support me with everything I do.
@FightPsych: Have you, or people close to you noticed changes in your personality or behaviour presumed to be the result of the work you do?
Jacob: I do countless interviews for TV, radio and print. People recognize me just about everywhere I go and my family thinks that is cool. Often a fan comes up to me and we start talking like we are best of friends. My wife or kids ask me who that was and I tell them that I do not know. Regardless, at that moment, they are my best friend.
@FightPsych: Few cutmen have achieved the level of recognition that you have. What do you believe are the factors that have contributed to the recognition you receive?
Jacob: I think I am recognized a little more than the other cutmen because I market myself as often as I can. I enjoy being with the fighters and fans and always try to bring the best forward. Some say I have the face!
@FightPsych: As a psychologist I am often reluctant to disclose my work role in social settings, fearing common responses. If people you meet socially don’t already know what you do, do you tell them? If so, how do people typically respond?
Jacob: At social settings I usually do not mention what I do unless someone asks me. When I tell them I work with fighters, some think I am talking about airplanes. When I tell them I am a cutman, many say “what is that?”
At a party for my brother the word got out what I did and people came up to me for pictures. Awesome!
@FightPsych: Outside of work, what are some of your other interests or hobbies?
Jacob: For the most part I have no hobbies except spend time with my family. I do like going to the movies. Outside of that, pretty simple life.
Bas Rutten
April 4, 2012
@FightPsych: Who were your heroes growing up?
Bas: Bruce Lee and Bruce Jenner (I did decathlon, wanted to be the Dutch Bruce Jenner).
@FightPsych: Did you use strategies to motivate yourself to train?
Bas: Always thought my opponent would train harder than me, and then I simply did more rounds.
@FightPsych: What did you worry about in the weeks leading up to fights and how did you cope with worrying?
Bas: Injuries, just make sure you are well protected, take time to put on your gear and make sure it’s all good. And if an injury happened, I would always think it’s for a reason. If for instance my right hand got hurt, that meant that “the Gods” told me my right hand was strong enough, focus on something else.
@FightPsych: Did you use strategies to manage your emotions in the moments before fights?
Bas: If, I would be nervous, which would not be a lot, I would just focus on the sound of the bell knowing that when that sound goes, everything goes perfect. The reason why I was never nervous, is that I have always been very “honest” to myself. If you go over in your mind “why you would be nervous and what can really happen”, you find out, when you break that down, it’s not as bad as you think it is. Once you fight for yourself first, and not for your family, friends and fans, it doesn’t really matter if you win or lose, because you lost, so what? And if you are lucky you didn’t get KO’d, so you can fight again, and if you got submitted, but tapped, you can also fight again. The bad thing is that you think about what “the people” are going to say, they are going to tell you what you should have done yet, they don’t fight. I stopped caring for that after my last Thai boxing fight in Holland, which I lost, and then suddenly all the people said I couldn’t fight. Haha, there I knew that they have NO clue about “competing” and what goes on “in there”.
@FightPsych: Please give some insight into your thoughts seconds before you fought.
Bas: I tell myself to stay relaxed, to let him not make me angry. I won’t do the stare down because I am a hothead and if he starts, I am going to give it back harder, but I am going to need anger for that, and anger you wanna stay away from because if you really want to hurt your opponent, you “over commit” to your strikes, and that’s the same as “telegraphing”, telling your opponent “here I come”. I focus also completely on his corner, listen to their voices and make sure I recognize them when I fight. I have won fights because his corner told him to do something, which I knew was gonna come, and capitalized on that. I was going to give Tsuyoshi Kosaka a right high kick, Maurice Smith shouted “watch out for a right high kick” (he’s a great striker, saw me setting it up), so I changed it into a right straight and KO’d him. Haha, I told Maurice later that he should “shut up”, he said “you are probably the only fighter who does that” and laughed. I think a lot more fighters are doing this now, that’s why we (and other corners of course as well) change the names on our techniques.
@FightPsych: When you recall the fights over your career, which 3 fights come to mind first? Why do these fights stand out for you?
Bas: First loss against Funaki, I didn’t even know what a “toe hold” was, very painful. My rematch against him, where I knocked him out. And for some reason my last loss against Ken Shamrock, that one really pissed me off, but then again, it made me a better fighter because that’s where I decided I wouldn’t lose again, ever, and started to train two, sometimes three times a day on the ground. I found ONE sparring partner for that, and just got crazy, 24/7 I was busy with it, my whole house was full of little post-its with combos and counters and pointers. I actually would wake my wife up in the middle of the night because I dreamt about a submission, so I would put her into that, haha. This happened a bunch of times. I kept doing that while competing and never lost a fight again, won actually my next 8 fights by submission (one by decision, but I dominated him with grappling).
@FightPsych: According to Wikipedia you relinquished your King of Pancrase title in 1996 to be present for the birth of your second daughter. Then in 2006 you resigned from your role as commentator for the Pride Fighting Championships because the role required you to be away from your family. Do you ever regret putting your family first?
Bas: Of course not. When I actually FIGHT (compete), that’s when I fight for myself, but as soon as the fight is over I try to be there for the family. Also understand that when my wife was pregnant with our first daughter, she and the baby could have died. She had a pregnancy poisoning that was very dangerous. And Pride I left because I didn’t want to work with a new scumbag producer they hired, I told them (Pride) he was bad news, gave them all the lies he’d already said, but they believed in “second chances”. I told them that it wasn’t smart and that he probably was going to get their job as well. They didn’t believe me, but 6 months later I was right.
Godspeed and party on!
Phil “New York Bad Ass” Baroni
November 17, 2011
@FightPsych: Did you ever get into fights in school?
Phil: Yeah I had a lot of fights in school. Mainly with older kids growing up.
@FightPsych: Do you use strategies to keep yourself motivated in the months and weeks leading up to fights?
Phil: These days I try to stay positive. I just try and be a positive person and as gay as it sounds, look on the bright side. It’s easy to get down. My career has been an emotional roller coaster. You just have to believe, in your training, your team, in yourself, that you did enough and deserve to win.
@FightPsych: What do you worry about in the weeks leading up to a big fight? How do you cope with worrying?
Phil: Ah it use to really get to me. But the best thing to combat worry is preparation. When you prepare alongside others that are doing well and are successful and you believe in your training, you don’t worry nearly as much.
@FightPsych: Describe your thoughts in the final 30 seconds before a fight.
Phil: I hope I looked good making my entrance ha ha. The 30 seconds before the bell rings you’re just focused on your opponent and ready to fight. At that moment instinct takes over a bit. I’m getting a bit nervous thinking about what I am thinking 30 seconds before the bell rings. At that point you’ve got to be confident, lie 2 yourself if need be.
@FightPsych: I understand you have a psychology degree. What motivated you to study psychology? Have you utilized skills acquired through studying psychology to enhance your MMA career?
Phil: I thought growing up I wanted to work with kids, be some sort of counselor. I have used some sport psychology in the past but no, I’ve never been able to treat myself much. Probably shouldn’t have cheated in school so much.
Enson Inoue
May 2, 2012
@FightPsych: Who were your heroes growing up?
Enson: Mike Tyson and Michael Jordan.
@FightPsych: Did you ever get into fights in high school?
Enson: Yes a lot in intermediate school.
@FightPsych: Did you use strategies to motivate yourself to train?
Enson: Just looking at a picture of my opponent and imagining him training hard was enough motivation.
@FightPsyh: Please describe your typical thoughts, seconds before you fought.
Enson: Gotta kill him before he kills me!
@FightPsych: Looking back over your MMA career, which 3 fights come to mind first? Why do these fights stand out for you?
Enson: Randy Couture, my biggest claim to fame. Frank Shamrock, we both were in the best shape of our lives, we both gave our all and we both went for the kill! Igor Vovchanchin gave me the best lesson on what kind of man I am.
@FightPsych: According to Wikipedia you travelled to Fukushima in 2011 and entered an 18 mile evacuation zone to feed stray dogs. What was this experience like for you?
Enson: Heartbreaking. I felt so helpless and wanted to do so much more.
Evander Holyfield
June 11, 2012
@FightPsych: Who were your heroes growing up?
Evander: My mother was my hero.
@FightPsych: According to Wikipedia you started boxing at age 12. Was it your decision to start boxing? What factors contributed to the decision?
Evander: I started boxing at 8 years old. Yes, it was my decision to start boxing. When I turned 15, I played football. I felt that I was good but the coaches put me on the bench. I wanted to quit and my mother would not let me quit until the season was over. By the end of the season they eventually let me play and they saw how good I was and they asked me if I was going to come back next year. This is when I realized that I didn’t want to be in a sport where people would determine whether I could play or not and that’s when I chose boxing instead.
@FightPsych: Did you ever get into fights in high school?
Evander: No.
@FightPsych: Do you use strategies to increase your motivation when you’re training?
Evander: My mother told me that the person that works the hardest will usually be the one that wins. My strategy is to outwork everybody else.
@FightPsych: Please provide some insight into your thoughts, seconds before you fight.
Evander: Everything possible can go wrong. You have to clear the thoughts out by thinking about what you can do instead of thinking about what you can’t do well.
@FightPsych: Looking back over your career to date, which 3 fights come to your mind first? Why do these fights stand out for you?
Evander: Qawi – 15 rounds, first championship fight; Riddick Bowe – my first loss and Tyson – beating him.
@FightPsych: You are “the only five-time heavyweight champion of the world”. In your opinion, what factors have contributed to your success in regaining the heavyweight title more times than any other boxer?
Evander: It was my faith in the word of God, that is the ultimate thing because he is my strength. I used this to become a boxer from day 1 and I will until the day I leave boxing. I could never fight without God’s help. This is the only factor that allowed me to go as far as I did.
Miesha Tate
April 29, 2012
@FightPsych: According to Wikipedia you wrestled on the boys’ wrestling team in high school. When did you first become interested in wrestling?
Miesha: I never was interested in wrestling, I just did it out of default because I can’t play basketball. Shortly after joining the team I was hooked though.
@FightPsych: Did you ever get into fights in high school?
Miesha: No haha, I think the girls were scared of me!
@FightPsych: Do you use strategies to motivate yourself to train?
Miesha: Ya, I listen to music that motivates me or I watch YouTube videos that are motivational or I envision how I want my upcoming fight to play out.
@FightPsych: What do you worry about in the weeks leading up to fights and how do you cope with worrying?
Miesha: I don’t worry much because worrying is really a waste of time and energy. On occasion I get nervous like anyone else but I simply envision winning my fight and push any negative thoughts out and away from me.
@FightPsych: Please give some insight into your thoughts, seconds before you fight.
Miesha: I think this is what I live for, someday I’ll be 80 years old and say “those were the days”. I think how I just want to soak every second in and how I wish it could last forever.
@FightPsych: Looking back over your career to date, which 3 fights come to mind first? Why do these fights stand out for you?
Miesha: My 2 losses, against Kaufman and Rousey and my win against Marloes. My losses because they continue to make me a better fighter, they push me to evolve and never give up plus I want revenge, it motivates me incredibly. My win against Coenen because I had so much stacked against me with injuries & everything else but I defied the odds and became a champion in that fight. It was a very proud moment for me.
@FightPsych: Besides the combative arts, what are your other interests?
Miesha: I love to make cakes and cupcakes and I recently took up some new art projects. I enjoy being creative every now and then.
@FightPsych: I imagine being a female mixed martial artist comes with its share of gender related challenges. What are some of the more prominent challenges and how do you overcome or react to them?
Miesha: Now I just laugh it off. I know I’ve put in my time and I’m not worried about what anyone else thinks & I owe it to myself to stay real and enjoy life. If a man doesn’t like what I do then I suggest he move away from America cuz this awesome place is full of opportunities for men and women alike.
Ryron Gracie
January 29, 2012
@FightPsych: Who were your heroes growing up?
Ryron: My grandfather, father, uncles, Batman.
@FightPsych: What was being a Gracie like for you, in high school? Did you ever fight at school?
Ryron: Never fought, I was very respected. Tried to be nice to everyone.
@FightPsych: Your role at UFC I was to wipe blood off the canvas between fights. Do you recall your thoughts as you performed this duty?
Ryron: Get in quick and get out quick. Big guys are about to be fighting in here!
@FightPsych: Do you use strategies to motivate yourself to train for competition?
Ryron: Have not had in a few years but when I did do a few tournaments all I did was tell a few people I was going to compete and that made me have to train hard. I had to live up to what I said I was gonna do. Compete.. And if you’re going to compete you better mean business!
@FightPsych: Please describe your thoughts, seconds before you compete.
Ryron: No thoughts.
@FightPsych: You obtained your black belt from Grandmaster Helio Gracie. Please share one of Grandmaster Helio Gracie’s life lessons, perhaps one that guides the way you live.
Ryron: Live in the moment. Fight hard not to let someone pass your guard but when they land on the side control prepare for the next threat.
@FightPsych: Please describe the progression through the Jiu Jitsu ranks post black belt level. How do practitioners change as they progress through these ranks?
Ryron: Each belt advances in each category: Reflexes, comfort level, efficient use of energy/ strength, awareness, timing and knowledge.
All of the above listed and more I am still working on.
The most important is the blue belt. You should be able to defend yourself in a street fight against a larger opponent.
