Our MMA Fight Team Recap
We recently had two of our teammates - Brandon Zimmerman and Justin King - undertake professional MMA fights. They trained under grueling circumstances for weeks on end in preparation. They took part in some of the best fight camps they had ever experienced. Despite all of their hard work, they ultimately fell short of victory in the cage.
Photo by John Nagel Photography
Fighting is such a uniquely bizarre undertaking. Two people agree to hurt each other until one of them gives up or is unable to continue hurting the other. Leading up to the agreed upon bout, each individual spends weeks of intense preparation, far beyond their regular training routines. This intensity is brutal and is enough to mentally or physically break fighters before they ever step into the ring or cage.
But none of this guarantees a win.
No amount of work or effort or planning will lock in a victory, no matter how badly we may want it to. And unfortunately, that’s just the way fighting goes. There cannot be two winners, and despite our best efforts sometimes, we will not be the ones who come out on top.
After a disappointing performance, it’s easy to want to jump into criticism. Athletes criticize themselves frequently regardless of fight outcomes, so why even bother trying to win?
The answer lies in self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is, “the belief in one’s own ability to accomplish something” (Herle). When boiled down to its simplest form, the theory of self-efficacy tells us that human beings tend to avoid even attempting things in which they believe they will fail, and will only attempt things in which they believe they can have success. “People with a strong sense of efficacy believe they can accomplish even difficult tasks. They see these as challenges to be mastered, rather than threats to be avoided” (Herle).
Photo by John Nagel Photography
I would argue that Brandon and Justin have a strong sense of self-efficacy. Stepping into a locked cage to fight another human being is what some may call insanity because it screams against all of our natural instincts for safety and protection. But as difficult, painful, and terrifying it might be, Brandon and Justin never backed down from the challenge and went in with the knowledge that they could win.
Those two showed the hearts of champions. Despite any negative emotions that arise from a loss, both men have been back in the gym making changes, adjustments, and are challenging themselves to do better.
We at KruFit and Academic Grappling are lucky to be teammates with them and we will continue to do our best to support them in their future goals as well.