Don’t ever climb into a spaceship built by me.  I know nothing about astrophysics or space.  Leave that to the pros.  Have you ever seen a fighter venture out of his zone?  Usually that rocket doesn’t fly.  I cringe when an expert on the ground tries to prove himself in the MMA world by going toe-to-toe with a Muay Thai expert.  More often than not the fighter abandoning his roots will lose.

In UFC 91, I saw this between Tamdan McCrory and Dustin Hazelett.  Tamdan is skilled at striking, and Dustin is on a whole other level than most MMA fighters on the ground.  McCrory was winning the exchanges when the fight was standing.  Hazelett was no slouch and landed some good attacks.  The fight went to the ground, and moments later Hazelett was the victor with an arm bar that defied logic.

There was little surprise once the fight was on the ground who would win.  Tamdan had no shot.  Had he kept the fight standing he had the advantage and could have won.

It all comes down to game plan.  You either create a great plan and stick to it or you don’t.  Once things start to crumble and you get a defensive mindset it is hard to get back to the plan.  I had this play out with me at the Tae Kwon Do National Championships.  Being tall for my weight class I almost always had the range advantage.  Fighting from instinct, I would stick and move keeping the other just in my range.

I ran through my first fight.  My second fight, I tried to get creative.  I decided to close the distance and have a counterstrike battle.  Many fighters hate having someone in their face, and I thought for sure I could spook him and wear him down for another victory.  Hmm…all I did was close the distance for him, and he had a field day.  The first round was a wash.  By the time I got my head straight, his lead was far too great.

I abandoned my strengths and designed a rocket with crayons.

Tell me your stories.

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