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The weight of being a super star

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Luffy

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I know it doesn't happen with every fighter, ofc not, but many people that rise to a certain level, in the case UFC, where they are seen as unbeatable, seen as the person that can do anything, seen as the reference fighter... the fall many times ends up being as drastic. I think it's all about how the huge pressure of fear losing this position shake many fighters mentally. They may be highly competitive, work well under pressure, but it seems to change after the super status is reached for many, almost like a limit pressure for many... how to be tough mentally, in your opinions, to maintain a superstar "model" aura?
 
Many of them talked about the pressure of being the star, the reigning champ, the one everyone is gunning for. How is much harder to stay on top then to get to the top.

I think Anderson even talked about some kind of relief of not being champion anymore.

Don't think there's really much they can do to prepare for it. Kind of just face it.
 
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Ozze said:
Many of them talked about the pressure of being the star, the reigning champ, the one everyone is gunning to. How is much harder to stay on top then to get to the top.

I think Anderson even talked about the some kind of relief of not being champion anymore.

Don't think there's really much they can do to prepare for it. Kind of just face it.
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This is why I don't rate Khabib's championship run very highly. Don't get it twisted. I rate khabib very highly I just don't rate his title run very highly.
Every opponent he fought was a high profile fight. He never had to encounter opponents that were unknown and hungry. Where the champ had nothing to gain but everything to lose. If he won well he's the champ so he's supposed to win. And if he lost then well he lost to an unknown fighter.

Jon fought Gustaffson (the first time), Santos, Anthony Smith, and Reyes when they were low profile high risk low reward fighters and Jon just needed op
GSP fought Serra coming off winning TUF and Hardy when they were relative unknowns.
Silva fought Côte in Chicago and Weidman when they were young and hungry and no one really knew who they were.
Half of Aldo's title reign was against nobodies.

Khabib never defended the turkey when he had young, upcoming starving fighters that everyone told him that he was going to steamroll and if he lost he was a bum.
 
Rose Namajunas said she was relieved to lose the belt against Andrade. Her mentality is not so uncommon, especially in UFC where media and marketing is everything.
 
Bend NvR Break said:
This is why I don't rate Khabib's championship run very highly. Don't get it twisted. I rate khabib very highly I just don't rate his title run very highly.
Every opponent he fought was a high profile fight. He never had to encounter opponents that were unknown and hungry. Where the champ had nothing to gain but everything to lose. If he won well he's the champ so he's supposed to win. And if he lost then well he lost to an unknown fighter.

Jon fought Gustaffson (the first time), Santos, Anthony Smith, and Reyes when they were low profile high risk low reward fighters and Jon just needed op
GSP fought Serra coming off winning TUF and Hardy when they were relative unknowns.
Silva fought Côte in Chicago and Weidman when they were young and hungry and no one really knew who they were.
Half of Aldo's title reign was against nobodies.

Khabib never defended the turkey when he had young, upcoming starving fighters that everyone told him that he was going to steamroll and if he lost he was a bum.
Click to expand...

So the Al Iaquinta fight didn't happen?
 
But while some fighters may have found relief when they weren't unbeaten anymore, like Anderson, GSP, Usman, Rose... Would you say some fighters actually wouldn't find it relieving at all, like Khabib and Islam Makhachev? It's almost like remaining on top is a duty that must be followed... and they don't tend, though, to resort to escapisms like chemicals. Jon Jones maybe has the same mentality of staying on top undefeated almost like a duty, but not being able to keep the pressure in healthy levels many times?
 
Most humans aren't built for fame and fortune. Usually the psychopaths rise to the top of the Mickey Mouse club and the rest end up broken and dead.
 
i think it's like 8 solar masses and a star can collapse into a black hole. or something.
 
Its part of the game ...

Sometimes a Peasant wants to be a King till there actually a King and have to rule a nation and sometimes a King ,just wants to be peasant and hang out till they release what its like to be ruled by someone else...

At the end of the day...to be Great means to go through sacrifice...thats why being great is such a big deal...most cant sacrifice
 
The worst cases are the ones who have a huge 'entourage' i.e. friends and family who are sort of leeching off of the champ, who then feels even more pressure to provide for them. Look at a guy like Manny Pacquiao.
 
blaseblase said:
So the Al Iaquinta fight didn't happen?
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Make shift last minute flight that was throw together. Not to mention BOTH Al and Khabib had everything to gain in that fight. Remember the title was vacant. Both guys wanted to be the undisputed UFC LW champ. That fight wasn't a title defense for khabib.

I still think it's funny that the UFC wanted Paul Felder to fight khabib and the commission said no because he wasn't ranked high enough and they wouldn't sign off on it.
 
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