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Why is it that the most physically talented fighters are usually mentally weak and have the lowest Cardio?
Do you think that these fighters rely on their above average physical abilities to destroy the lower opposition their whole early MMA career so they never develop a hard work ethic later on in their career? By hard work ethic I mean the technical skills to defend and attack, and the cardio to keep those technical skills alive throughout the fight.
For instance, notable fighters for me that are very talented are BJ Penn for starters. First American to win the Brazilian BJJ championships, and got a blackbelt after only four years. The dudes dexterity is second to none, his boxing is better than most fighters today, his takedown defense is magnificent, he has an incredible chin as well, but he gasses due to not being motivated and training the way he should be.
Erick Silva seems like one of those guys as well as we saw very recently in the Matt Brown fight. Erick was winning against Fitch pretty handily until he gassed, has destroyed everyone in front of him who doesn't have cardio or isn't mentally tough enough to survive the onslaught, he lost the first round to the Dong due to a takedown, but was laying a beat down on the Dong, but then Erick gassed and started throwing wild punches from the hip and got countered, and here again recently he gasses and gets destroyed by a mentally tough, relentless pressure fighter with limitless Cardio in Brown.
Erick is explosive, quick, incredible bjj, and has very powerful kicks, probably the strongest in the Division, he should be a champ but he never will be, I feel again, guys who win early due to their natural physical gifts will never develop their mind game enough to be championship material. They'll never learn have learned the need to push themselves enough to drill that jab just a bit better, to push for that extra takedown, that extra kick, that one inch that matters in sports to become a divisional champ.
This is why I believe most wrestlers in MMA have success, the conditioning for a NCAA champ or any wrestler for that matter is very impressive with much hard work needed, in turn they bring in the hard work ethic required for MMA competition and apply it to the striking, clinching, submissions, ect and become very good well rounded mentally tough fighters.
Nick Diaz is an example of hard work. One could argue he is talented at fighting, and he is, but physically he got the short end of the stick. He's a tall lanky awkward fighter who can't really kick, he doesn't punch hard, he isn't explosive so he doesn't shoot for powerful takedowns or throw bombs, but through his hard work, extreme cardio training, and at least in the cage being mentally tough, he made it to the top (yes he reached the top you don't have to be a champion to be considered part of the top)
MMA has proven that the saying "Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard" is extremely TRUE. And then we have guys like Jones, Anderson Silva in his Prime, Cain Velasquez, GSP, Barao, Aldo. Guys who are talented, AND work hard who dominate and are championship material.
Just a quick observation. What are fighters that you all think are talented but don't have the work ethic to become champs? And explain why you feel they're talented.
Do you think that these fighters rely on their above average physical abilities to destroy the lower opposition their whole early MMA career so they never develop a hard work ethic later on in their career? By hard work ethic I mean the technical skills to defend and attack, and the cardio to keep those technical skills alive throughout the fight.
For instance, notable fighters for me that are very talented are BJ Penn for starters. First American to win the Brazilian BJJ championships, and got a blackbelt after only four years. The dudes dexterity is second to none, his boxing is better than most fighters today, his takedown defense is magnificent, he has an incredible chin as well, but he gasses due to not being motivated and training the way he should be.
Erick Silva seems like one of those guys as well as we saw very recently in the Matt Brown fight. Erick was winning against Fitch pretty handily until he gassed, has destroyed everyone in front of him who doesn't have cardio or isn't mentally tough enough to survive the onslaught, he lost the first round to the Dong due to a takedown, but was laying a beat down on the Dong, but then Erick gassed and started throwing wild punches from the hip and got countered, and here again recently he gasses and gets destroyed by a mentally tough, relentless pressure fighter with limitless Cardio in Brown.
Erick is explosive, quick, incredible bjj, and has very powerful kicks, probably the strongest in the Division, he should be a champ but he never will be, I feel again, guys who win early due to their natural physical gifts will never develop their mind game enough to be championship material. They'll never learn have learned the need to push themselves enough to drill that jab just a bit better, to push for that extra takedown, that extra kick, that one inch that matters in sports to become a divisional champ.
This is why I believe most wrestlers in MMA have success, the conditioning for a NCAA champ or any wrestler for that matter is very impressive with much hard work needed, in turn they bring in the hard work ethic required for MMA competition and apply it to the striking, clinching, submissions, ect and become very good well rounded mentally tough fighters.
Nick Diaz is an example of hard work. One could argue he is talented at fighting, and he is, but physically he got the short end of the stick. He's a tall lanky awkward fighter who can't really kick, he doesn't punch hard, he isn't explosive so he doesn't shoot for powerful takedowns or throw bombs, but through his hard work, extreme cardio training, and at least in the cage being mentally tough, he made it to the top (yes he reached the top you don't have to be a champion to be considered part of the top)
MMA has proven that the saying "Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard" is extremely TRUE. And then we have guys like Jones, Anderson Silva in his Prime, Cain Velasquez, GSP, Barao, Aldo. Guys who are talented, AND work hard who dominate and are championship material.
Just a quick observation. What are fighters that you all think are talented but don't have the work ethic to become champs? And explain why you feel they're talented.
