Physical or Mental Strength – Which is the Ultimate Method for Success?

By Katrina Belcher (KatrinaBelcher@mmaratings.net)

I’ve long wondered which plays a more important role in the success of a fighter: physical strength or mental strength? Certainly both are important, but does one or the other govern the ultimate success of an MMA fighter? Can a fighter be strong in one but not the other and still win? Or is what Bob Reilly says true – that MMA fighters are nothing more than a bunch of unintelligent backstreet brawlers with their only goal being to destroy their opponents?

We’ve all seen those fighters who have huge egos. Some of them also have brute strength – but do such fighters reign supreme? Let’s look at Tito Ortiz. He’s physically strong. Even his name is designed to mentally thwart his opponents: “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy”. The man definitely has an ego, brute strength, ability (elbows!) and experience: 15-6-1. After his win against Ken Shamrock, however, in spite of his ego, big talking and elbows, he lost to Chuck Liddell, had a draw with Rashad Evans, and suffered a loss to Lyoto Machida. Except for the birth of his twins, we’ve barely heard or seen from him since.

Speaking of Ken Shamrock… Well, okay, let’s talk about Ken, “The World’s Most Dangerous Man”. Really? He certainly has all the ingredients to be that, and he too is physically strong, but his recent record shows anything but. At 27-13-2, and five straight losses (Rich Franklin, Kazushi Sakuraba, Tito Ortiz, Tito Ortiz, and Robert Berry) before defeating, (if you want to call it that) Ross Clifton, in spite of his ego and mouthing off, Ken hasn’t been doing real well lately. And now we know his ego wasn’t much help against Clifton – he chose to use steroids instead. Sad.

Interestingly, in research conducted by Tracey J. Devonport on success in elite kickboxing athletes entitled “Perceptions of the Contribution of Psychology to Success in Elite Kickboxing”, Devonport had the study’s participants identify 7 (seven) mental skills that they believed to be linked to success in kickboxing: 1) effective use of self-talk; 2) relaxation; 3) heightened concentration; 4) self-regulation of arousal; 5) goal setting; 6) coping with being hit; and 7) imagery. (School of Sport, Performing Arts and Leisure, University of Wolverhampton, UK; Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2006) CSSI, 99-107; Combat Sports Special Issue; Published online: 01 July 2006)

The three psychological characteristics identified by all participants as contributing to success were: 1) high self-efficacy; 2) high motivation; and 3) mental toughness. Not surprising.

A fourth psychological characteristic was also suggested, although not specifically identified by participants: participants demonstrated varying degrees of emotional intelligence using a previously unidentified ability to monitor and manipulate their emotional states prior to and during competition.

There’s no doubt the application of mental skills is linked to better performance in martial arts. Further research has even identified psychological variables that are linked with enhanced performance in martial arts that should come as no surprise to any professional athlete: concentration; relaxation and controlling anxiety; visual search strategies; imagery and self-talk. (Durand-Bush and Salmela, 2002; Orlick, 2000) Additionally, other characteristics that may impact an athlete’s performance includes confidence and motivation. Starting to see the pattern here?

Let’s look at another UFC fighter – Lyoto Machida. He’s got a perfect record 16-0-0. No losses. He’s currently ranked as the #1 light-heavyweight fighter in the world by Sherdog.

Machida holds an undefeated record that includes victories over former UFC light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin, current UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn and former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. Yet when you look at him, he’s not particularly strong physically, at least not when compared to his recent opponents. Interestingly, in addition to his sumo and karate achievements, he has a college degree in Physical Education – meaning he might have a more in-depth knowledge of how a pro-athlete must train, in order to prepare for competition. He does not bully his opponents or strong arm them (well – you know what I mean!); he does not trash talk them before a fight – he just goes in and does what he does best when the time comes. If you saw the lead up to his last fight with Rashad Evans, you witnessed the mental training he exercises during fight preps. Could this be the difference between Machida and his opponents?

According to Wikipedia, Machida has earned the respect of the MMA industry and fans. “At the same time, his cerebral and conservative style is sometimes deemed boring and unsatisfying to watch. Machida has drawn fire from fans, and criticism from MMA commentators for his limited aggression and many decision victories.” But Machida has stated he believes fans are coming to appreciate the efficiency of his style just like they came to appreciate Royce Gracie’s grappling.

Interestingly, in working with numerous “beginner” MMA fighters, I have found that almost to a person, one can train incessantly, be powerful, have skills, talk the talk, and trash talk their opponent all they want, but the moment they step into that cage for the first time – all self-confidence pretty much goes out the cage door. We’ve all see such newbie fighters – they practically tap the floor of the mat before the first round even begins. Just about the only thing that can help a fighter through this type of fear, and develop a martial artist’s ability to focus on task relevant cues is: experience and/or training in a ring-environment, appropriate training, and exposing fighters to the same constraints as those experienced during competition.

Research has proven the need to tailor mental skills training to the specific needs of an individual. And according to the growing body of evidence linking mental skills to enhanced performance in martial arts, there is no question an individualized mental skills training program should be part of a martial artists training.

In the research study quoted earlier, self-efficacy was identified by all participants as the main psychological attribute leading to success. Motivation was also considered by all participants to be necessary for success. Finally, all participants agreed that a fighter could be an excellent technical fighter, but if they did not posses psychological “hardiness” they would not be a successful tournament fighter, because “mental toughness is reflected in an athlete’s ability to cope with stress and resultant anxiety associated with high-pressure competitive situations.”

What does this mean to a new fighter? Well – if you’re just starting out in MMA, don’t just train physically, train mentally. Develop your personal understanding of the psychology of fighting. Develop mental skills and build them up over a period of time – truly it’s not something you can do fast and easy.

The integration of goal setting within training was also considered to be important by all participants. This included short and long-term goals and the careful consideration of goal attainment.

Short term strategies should include: developing a pre-competition routine (this was identified as a key component of the short-term preparation for a fight.) The pre-competition routines should include:

1. elements of strategy development
2. self-talk/ verbal persuasion
3. imagery
4. observations/planning
5. emotional control
6. physical preparation
7. arousal management
8. body language/ posturing; and
9. in some instances intimidation!

Long term strategies should include: appropriate training – this is extremely important. Appropriate training was determined by:

1. the intensity of training
2. the skills addressed in the training; and
3. the adaptation of training.

So what have we discovered? Pretty much if you look at all the research and spend some time thinking about it, there is no Ultimate Method for Success in MMA. Training in your martial arts systems and training mentally are truly each equally important – meaning it’s important to do both, if you want a chance to be The Ultimate Fighter!

The study I used for this article is fascinating and contains a lot of vital information and some valuable suggestions for a fighter and/or his/her trainer in terms of improving their abilities – especially mentally. If you’re a fighter or a trainer and would like a copy of this study, send me a note and I’ll get you a copy.