fighter nerves

[dead man walking]

is it common that most fighters get nerves prior to there fight, examples: being sick, thinking "what the fuck am i about to do this for?" and pissing/shitting a lot?????

[Dave Hirst]

Always ask myself what the fuck I'm doing, I think it's a fairly common question to ask of one's self prior to getting in a ring and getting beaten up. I don't feel sick but my stomach sometimes feels heavy, as though I've eaten too much, and I feel like I should go and make myself sick to get rid of it...

I think that your body is always going to undergo changes when you know you've got to fight in a few hours, but I feel you can interpret those changes in a number of ways - you can interpret what you're feeling as fear or nerves, or you can see it as excitement, and your body switching on to get maximum performance - essentially your body reacts the same way but it's the meaning you attribute to this reaction that has significance.

[Leigh]

I used to get that a lot and would always think, "why am I doing this?"

The way I have found to over come this is to extend my training period. About 6 weeks out, I start to panic and think, "Oh God, what am I doing? All this training just to go out infront of thousands of people and shit myself!"

But about 3 weeks out, I'm sick of training and during the week before, while I'm managing my weight, I just want to get in there and tear it up

Hope that helps

[widge milward]

I used to get hyperactive and 'giddy' (more than usual) in the warm up room before fights, i also used to piss quite a bit and brush my teeth 2-3 times before hand, dunno why lol.

but never got butterflies for some reason.

[The Natural]

Lol...BRUSH UR TEETH??:D :D

Wierd...:cool: :D

[i got guillotined]

I used to get hyperactive and 'giddy' (more than usual) in the warm up room before fights, i also used to piss quite a bit and brush my teeth 2-3 times before hand, dunno why lol.

but never got butterflies for some reason.


clean body , clean mind


i just say , whats the worst that could happen

[daniel darby]

is it common that most fighters get nerves prior to there fight, examples: being sick, thinking "what the fuck am i about to do this for?" and pissing/shitting a lot?????

i had my first fight an wen i was in the cage it felt surreal it felt like its not natural but wen the ref said fight thats it its on

[Duchman]

i was fucking fucking shocked.. Cause i had no feeling...Realy when i fought at the quannem interclub, thai or against micky young.. I had the same feeling as i have right now sitting here typing..
YOu have to come to terms with your self.
I tried screaming, hating, cursing... But it had no effect.. I just walk in there and play

[Waterboy]

i had my first fight an wen i was in the cage it felt surreal it felt like its not natural but wen the ref said fight thats it its on

Yeah, definitely had the surreal sort of detachment from reality feeling in the cage before. Like everything's moving dead fast, and then dead slow (probably the guy moving fast and me moving slow!).

Leigh's advice sounds good, train for long enough and hard enough that by the time you get to fight you gagging for the chance to get it over with.

[James Saville]

i crap myself , its the worst feeling ever , but when its allover it feels soo good.

last time i fought i was just sa in the changing rooms thinking what the fuck am i doing , ive got beaten up for 4 weeks in training ...and now im going to either get my face smashed in or smash somoneface it... what is the point?

[ocuana]

First time I fought I was incredibly composed - like it was nothing.
Second time - because of the people there to watch me - I downed two litres of water in an hour and still felt dehydrated and my heart was racing man. Nearly didn't pass blood pressure medical. Cold shower before fight.

I now find that smoking a joint five minutes before however...

[Kaan Sencer]

the worst part is right before the fight, i really dont want to be there, but when im looking at my opponent (or trying not to lol) i start to focus more, adrenaline also makes me feel nervous becuase i used to lose a lot of fights and it felt really bad (rough secondary school) so i guess i assosciate adrenaline more with nervousness, the only explanation i have for it becuase everyone else says adrenaline makes them feel like they want to fight

[Naruto]

I see nerves as things that need understanding to hold cool.
I held my attention not to dwell each time I fought.

Now I hold my attention to holding my mood.
I would be concious of not getting caught up in conversations expressing any urgency before a fight.

when you hold kind you wont get mind fucked,lol pardoning the expression :)

[ocuana]

that is some seeeeerious parable right there Sami... :S

[Nak-Muay]

I was nervous my first few fights... You just have to remind yourself of the following:

Will you get hurt... Probably.
Will you lose... Maybe.
Will you be embarrassed... Depends what you do.
What can you do to stop either of these? Fight hard and to the best of your ability.

It's just the game man, if you don't wanna get hit... don't fight. What's the worst that can happen? You get knee'd in the face or elbowed in the face? What's the worst result... A broken nose? A knock out... fuck it, it's tempory. VERY few people have been seriously hurt in combat sports and if the worst you can expect is a broken nose you have nothing much to fear seeing as nearly everyones had one these days.

[spartanwarrior]

for me the nerves werent there to begin with because i was always quitely confident i could beat anyone my weight i fought lol, i still dont get as nervous as most and i think that its because i constantly tell myself in the weeks before that its what i do outside of the cage in my preperation that contributes most to the fight, and that getting it right outside the cage equals getting it right inside the cage. nerves for everyone are completely normal. everybody gets the exact same feeling, some people just deal with it better than others.

[Yetiman]

I entered my first Grappling competition this sat just gone. Tell you what nerves were a mofo! I lost my first fight and I went to pieces, I started to doubt my self and what not. Next fight I was even more nervous going in to it, but at the start the guy charged me and not sure what happened but I think I got elbowed/forearmed in the face and that woke me up, the nerves went and I felt great and I loved every min of the fight.
Just thought I would share that experience:)

[wuzz]

I used to get hyperactive and 'giddy' (more than usual) in the warm up room before fights, i also used to piss quite a bit and brush my teeth 2-3 times before hand, dunno why lol.

but never got butterflies for some reason.

i have only just had my 1st fight and i got hyperactive done about 5 pisses in the hour leading up to my fight and had no nerves/butterflies just excitement, but when i got into the fight i was over excited, lost the game plan, never listened too my corner and was looking for the KO to please the crowd (my striking stinks), i was doing well till i got caught in a guillotine that my corner was screaming at me was about to happen and lost, but i enjoyed the fight.

there is no humiliation in defeat as it takes balls to enter the arena, so there is nothing to lose unless you are a high profile fighter with a title/perfect record.

my advise if any worth would be do the opposite of what i done, i think if i was more relaxed/composed i would have done better.

try be confident, composed, listen to your coach, never doubt your own ability and enjoy the moment when it comes and look your opponent in the eye and show him you are confident (mind games work i have been told).

no disrespect but if you are scared of what might happen i would say you are in the wrong sport.

[HarryHill]

My tuppenceworth...

I get nervous but try and focus it on the task in hand. When the adrenaline kicks in all kinds of crazy thoughts wizz round my mind, but i try and keep my breathing calm and focus.
Reading Geof Thompson's book on FEAR helps a lot to be honest, explaining the science behind the adrenaline you feel and how to make it work for you.
As natural as going to the toilet... apparantently.

[adan2401]

i find im very relaxed on the day , even in the medical i had the doctor telling me i seemed too relaxed (blood pressure or heart rate or wateva) for fight night but that its a gd thing and nothing to worry about. and then they come an tell me its my fight next an i've got a few minutes and i just wanna be anywhere else in the world! really nervous and butterflies and then when the music starts, absolute tunnel vision focusness and nothing else matters, no nerves nothing

[MaNuAl]

My arse falls out, I'm that nervous haha! But for some reason, sitting on the pot relaxes me and then from there on out...I'm fine o.O

Hyper / Nervous / Excited and Adrenaline are all good and bad! Quiet room, lights off and just chill with slow breathing helps me too.

[dalml002]

i posted this twice so just read the below

[dalml002]

i started a thread before a fight once on how to deal with my nerves as a week before a fight i was absolutly shitting my pants. i have been sick before a fight, i have felt like crying and have had the 'what the fuck am i doing'. but when i walk out to fight i feel nothing it just feels like a dream.

[andyt1992]

is it common that most fighters get nerves prior to there fight, examples: being sick, thinking "what the fuck am i about to do this for?" and pissing/shitting a lot?????

where dya think i shitted myself / pissed my pants came from. duno where i brushed my teeth came from tho :D

[VLee574]

i never really get nervous before a fight, its a controlled enviroment you have a referee there to protect you and unlike boxing if you take to many big shots and get hurt you can take the other guy down... i get very exited before a fight and have made mistakes in the cage due to my rushed nature.....

[John@FightersOnly]

Will you get hurt... Probably.
Will you lose... Maybe.
Will you be embarrassed... Depends what you do.
What can you do to stop either of these? Fight hard and to the best of your ability.

i think embarassment would be my number one fear. Adrenaline would take care of the immediate pain, but i'd be worried of getting shown up or sparked out at :04 seconds by some flash KO. That would be terrible.

[saul]

My worst nerves come on the day before the fight. As soon as I am warming up and listening to music with my kit on i just want to start the fight and the nerves disappear.

I think they key is to get yourself in a calm meditative state. Show no emotion. If you look at alot of pro fighters they will have the same expression whether they are walking to the cage/ring or winning/losing.

If you have done all your training and have your mind controlled, the rest is in the lap of the Gods. Whatever happens, happens. Just accept it and enjoy the experience.

[Naruto]

that is some seeeeerious parable right there Sami... :S

hahaaa
If I were to wash someones feet before a fight and they were to hold without getting embaressed or enjoying the satisfaction of the expression itself. Its like the experience of 1 million fights. Nerves would be a fairytale & something to talk about at dinner parties ,lol

[Fisha]

i started reading this thread then when i got just past the first page i started getting nervous as fuck thinking about everything that goes through me head when i'm about to fight lol

[Mattchoo]

Always get nervous without fail, but its more so anticipation of the fight and what im going to do. Il be nervously making 'what if' situations for the week up to the fight thinking up different things that will be thrown at me and what i would possibly fire back with. Im strange, starts off being worried almost at whats going to be thrown at me and then turns into a mindmap of how i can fight against things bar what im already aiming to do. Ends up me getting excited about the fight and not worried by the opponent at all for some reason!

[Keerin]

I didn't really take it serious until the bell rang, then something snapped in my head and I couldn't hear or see anything aside from the ring and my opponent.

I didn't get a dicky tummy or butterfies really before the fight aside from walking into the weigh in/changing room for the first time and seeing all the other fighters; feeling the nervous energy was contagious. When I met my opponent I wasn't bothered by it, even though he was much bigger and also ended up weighing about 4kg more than me because I weighed in at 77kg instead of 79/80 :o

The main thing that everyone said when I was walking to and got in the ring was how relaxed and calm I looked. My wife even mentioned I looked really peaceful. My avatar is my just about to enter the ring and you can see that I look really calm. When we were in the centre of the ring receiving the ref's final instructions my opponent was staring at me fiercely, like I had killed his family or something! I was so relaxed that I had to look away and laugh because I didn't want to laugh in his face. Thinking back, I should have just stood there with an idiotic grin on my face - imagine how intimidating that could be. He is standing there looking his meanest and you just stand there smiling.

I retired at the end of the 3rd as I couldn't breathe. Dunno what happened, just lost all breathe. As soon as the fight was over and his hand was raised, I was fine though. V weird. Think I got caught a good one that took the wind out of my sails but can't remember.

Basically, I was pretty relaxed for my first fight. My main goal was to get in the ring. I knew once I had stepped into the ring I had achieved all I wanted to that night. Finishing the first round was really a bonus. I think that's why I was so calm. I plan on actually winning my next one so I might be more nervous!

[The Brazilian]

good thread this its funnyto see how different people react to it, my 1st fight i was expecting to get nervous the whole way i got to the weigh ins (day before) and thought ye ill get the nerves now and just never i was so chilled its a joke, then i thought oh ok they will come on the day when i turn up..nope still nothing, start warming up and now im starting to worry about why im not getting nerves ha, so kept expecting them at the next stage and i ended up walking out calm/focused and stayed completely relaxed for the whole fight and didnt experience 1 butterfly the whole time, and i have mates in the gym who have had 20 fights and get them every time its just different for different ppl and aslong it doesnt effect your performance i guess it dont matter if u get them or not, but personally i like the chilled way, that way u can sleep half anhour before ur fight :)

[wingnut4]

I have my first amateur fight on Saturday and all this reading about nerves makes memore nervous, haha, i cant wait though, im soooo excited

[Ryan Roddy]

ah personally the pre fight nerves are the best part for me.

i dont see the point in spending all that time getting ready for a fight then not enjoying the fight build up and everything that goes with it.

The morning after i always feel little bit down (win or lose) because i wont get to feel that excited again for another 2 months or whatever that may be

[doncmma]

they can be the best part for anyone if you know how to control it, i used to get realy nervous before a fight but i found that thinking about my opponent when im in the back has calmed my nerves down alot , you just have to remember you will be fighting someone on your own level , hes not a machine he has the same weaknesses as anyone else. he may have trained in certain things but so have i , you should always remember they will always have a weakness so exploit it, there not gsp lol

[AoAJJ]

I cure pre-fight nerves by light sparring with someone who is actually gunna hit me in the warm up room because it gets my mind too focused on slipping the shots rather than what I'm about to do, as soon as the door shuts behind me, I'm all about business.

[Serotonin+]

I cure pre-fight nerves by light sparring with someone who is actually gunna hit me in the warm up room because it gets my mind too focused on slipping the shots rather than what I'm about to do, as soon as the door shuts behind me, I'm all about business.

Whats you MMA record?

[Grizzly.]

Luckily I don't get nervous, I've been in a lot of situations in my life where I've had to feel pressure and now its really easy to overcome.

[Grizzly.]

EDIT - Double post.

[Smiler]

http://www.mmaunltd.com/training/details.asp/c/2/id/43/can-you-control-pre-fight-nerves.htm

Could be of interest to you...

Smiler

[IceKid]

i fucking hate nerves, i do one serious shit before its time.

[Chris Clarke]

I fought for the first time on saturday and was to busy trying to find some attire I had no nerves lol