Mind Games – Does it Give An Advantage?

Mind Games – Does it Give An Advantage?

By Aidan O’Connor

In both MMA & boxing mind games often have a big role to play in the fights, whether that be the build-up to the fight or even in the ring/octagon. However, this does not always pay off for fighters. In this 2-part article I am trying to explore the different effects that trying to get into your opponent’s head can have on the outcome of a fight.

The positive side of mind games:

It is no secret that in the MMA side of things, Conor McGregor has firmly cemented himself as the best trash talker in the UFC to which many a fighter try to copy the Irishman’s swagger and confidence. This has worked extremely well for him in certain scenario’s such as the Jose Aldo fight where many people believe that he had won the fight before it had even begun.

In the build up to UFC 194 McGregor tried everything he could to get in the head of the UFC Featherweight Champions head including speaking of his country, his ‘glass jaw’, his scarred face and he even took the belt and waved it in front of Aldo and said, ‘Come get it’. The fight itself only lasted a matter of seconds but McGregor after the fight told multiple journalists that he had predicted that Aldo would lunge through as he had noticed during the heated moments that his hand was twitching.

Trash talking also had a positive effect in the Eddie Alvarez fight where he went back and forth with the Lightweight Champion but seemed to of gotten into his head a few times, going on to win the fight by KO and becoming the double champ.

In boxing there are numerous fighters who trash talk their opponents in the build up to fights. An example is Tyson Fury. ‘There isn’t a man born from his mother that could beat Tyson Fury’ – One of the many quotes the 6’8 giant is known for saying. If you go to a press conference for Tyson Fury, you know exactly what you are going to get.

On every opportunity possible Tyson Fury plays mind games with his opponents, ridiculing them in every way, getting in their face and even dressing up as batman during a press conference for the biggest fight of his life. Most notably Tyson Fury’s biggest achievement to date was beating the Heavyweight Legend Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf, Germany to become the lineal heavyweight champion.

Going into this fight, Klitschko was calm and collected as you would expect and Fury was foul-mouthed and abusive throughout. Many people believe that Fury had gotten into his opponents head from the outset and this showed in the fight when he was extremely cautious, the total opposite of Fury who boxed a masterclass against one of the best in the business, showboating and talking smack to him throughout the fight.

These are clear examples of how fighters benefit on getting in the head of their opponents and carrying the momentum through to the fights. These are only a couple fights, you could even start looking at the likes of Prince Naseem, David Haye, Dillian Whyte and many others who all used mind games and manipulation to gain momentum in fights.

In part 2 we will look at the negative effects of trying to get into your opponent’s head and conclude whether it is in fact worth it or not.