Fabricio Werdum did the unthinkable by submitting Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor had been the consensus number one fighter in the world for the last 10 years. Undefeated in 30 fights (He has 1 recorded loss due to a doctors stoppage because he was cut, but he was far from losing that fight). An expressionless, emotionless, cold blooded fighter that demolished everyone.
And here comes this kid, out of nowhere, and gets the Last Emperor in a Triangle.
This fight reinforced two universal truths in combat sports: anything can happen and everyone eventually loses.
It is common knowledge that proper preparation for any event is key (and by event, I am not limiting it to competition. This is also just as vital for self defense). Being prepared reduces performance anxiety and allows you to train, defend and fight more freely. This is one of the reasons that I am not a fan of having any set strategy in a fight (more on that in future posts.) But planning for anything is just plain smart.
But during training and preparation, have you have ever practiced losing? No one has the goal of losing (except those that do it on purpose for financial gain which, for them, is really winning by deception) but increasing your tolerance for when you are getting your ass kicked maybe that missing ingredient for some of you. Place yourself in compromised scenarios or exposed positions and see how long you can take it. Spar without hitting back. Have someone attack you without knowing when, where, or how. Failing in training is not easy, which is precisely the point. Build your endurance to adversity. The longer you last, the more opportunity you have to come back from the abyss.
We all have our tipping point of when we simply don't have anything left. Train to make yours greater than everyone else.
