Greg Jackson Explains The Psychology Of Fighting
Donald Cerrone is one of the most active fighters in the UFC, with a goal of fighting seven times this year, Cowboy will step into the Octagon tomorrow night to face Eddie Alvarez.
One thing that is unique about Cowboy’s pre-fight preparation is that he spends a lot of time relaxing the week of a fight.
His coach Greg Jackson spoke to MMAJunkie about the bout saying:
“He doesn’t watch any tape. He just asks us what he needs to do, and then he goes out and follows the game plan hopefully, and then he’s ‘Cowboy.’ But I don’t think he likes to sit around and think about the guy beforehand. I think that’s a negative place for him.”
“What you’re really talking about it is not just fear, but time and fear. It’s one thing if you get in a street fight. Some dude is being an ass, you get up, he gets up, boom, boom, boom, and it’s over pretty quick. It’s different when you know that on this certain day at this certain time you’ll be fighting this certain guy. There will be pain involved. People will be watching and judging everything you do, and you have time to think about all that. As it gets closer, you get more afraid. The night of, you get really afraid.”
“He gets really nervous right before the fight, but he’ll fight anybody. Usually how it works is, he gets nervous, we talk about how he’s never, ever going to do this again, and then he goes out and fights.”
“But it’s about realizing, yes, you will be afraid. Everyone is. But you still have to jump out of the airplane at the end. The hardest thing is walking to the cage, seeing that door shut. Once you touch gloves, that should be the end of that.”
Cerrone knows that the mental aspect of fighting often plays a bigger role than the physical side, which is why he likes to keep himself busy.
“I mean, fighting’s hard. If I just met you at a bar and fought you, it’s a whole lot different. But there’s a lot of what-ifs and expectations there. It kind of wears on you a little bit.”
Cerrone faces Eddie Alvarez tomorrow night at UFC 178 in the co-main event.
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