Fight Night: Tips for fighters

So here you are. Fight day. Hopefully, you’re nervous. Nerves are good. They
keep you sharp and prepare you for combat. Make sure you have a good, high-
carb breakfast if you weighed in the day before, and chill out until it’s time to
go to the venue. Make sure you’ve packed:
• Gum shield and a spare
• Groin guard
• Fight shorts
• Warm-up gloves
• Warm-up clothes
• Change of clothes for after
• Rehydration foods and liquids, if you have cut weight
• Tasty nutritious food as you may be at the venue for nine hours or
more

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 Cornerman/ Cornerwoman
duties
Hopefully, you’ll have a cornerman or your coach there at the venue, to make
sure everything runs smoothly. The cornerman is responsible for these duties:
• Liaising with the promoter, ring officials, referee, and doctor.
• Finding out which corner and changing room you’re in and making sure
it contains everything you need.
• Event and fight timing.
• Warming you up.
• Keeping you in the «zone».
• Recovery work in the corner.
• Shouting instructions and giving advice.
The cornerman is a key part of fight night. Without a cornerman, you’ll have to
do everything yourself. Which, believe me, is an extra hassle you don’t need.
I have been to many shows where a fighter rocks up with no cornerman or just
their dopey mate holding a bottle of water.

If you want to maximise your chance of winning your first fight, you need one,
or more, cornermen working as a team, to make sure everything runs like
clockwork. This allows you to focus on one thing: Winning.
Let’s look at the cornerman’s seven key duties in more detail.

LIAISING WITH OFFICIALS AT THE EVENT

Your cornerman should do all the chatting/arguing and negotiating with the
promoter and his minions. They may need to secure extra tickets, pay any
monies owed, and sort out entry bands for members of your gym or family.

They’ll also need to speak to the doctor and arrange your pre-fight medical,
and deal with a whole host of people you’ll have no interest in speaking to. So
let them handle all that for you.

If your cornerman is like one guy I saw at a show, who spent most of his time
trying to chat up the ring girls, then fire him and get someone who gives a shit
about your well-being.

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 FINDING OUT WHICH CORNER AND CHANGING ROOM YOU ARE IN
Your cornerman should get to the venue before you and should have scouted
out all the details, so that, when you arrive, you can be taken straight to your
changing room, and then shown the route to the cage, toilets, medical area,
etc. Some venues are massive, and you can spend ages walking here and
there trying to find your changing rooms. In my first pro fight, the changing
rooms were out back, in a caravan. Awesome!

TIMING
A lot of things need timing at a show. First, you need to know when you’re
fighting. Usually, there is someone wandering around with a list of the fights.
Your cornerman should collar him at regular intervals to check when you are
scheduled to fight and if any changes have occurred. Once our fighter got
bumped up the card, for example, and we didn’t have time to do an adequate
warm up. Another time, the promoter has thrown in an unscheduled 30-minute
break, because all the previous fights ended in the first round. Unfortunately
the promoter hadn’t told us, so our fighter was ready to go, only to find out they
needed to wait a further 45 minutes. That happens a lot, so keep your
cornerman busy checking the running order.

Your cornerman will also need to time what it takes for fighters to enter and
exit the cage. This allows you to roughly gauge how long you have till your
fight. If it takes five minutes to walk to the cage and five minutes to walk back,
then you can estimate how long you have till the fight. Of course, the fight
before yours could end in a knockout in 10 seconds, but even then, you know
you have at least 10 minutes till fight time (the exit time of the last fight, plus
your entrance time).

If the promoter moves your fight forward without telling you, you’re entitled to
request some extra time to warm up. The promoter might not like it, but it’s
your ass in the cage, and if you need extra time, then you need extra time. Get
your cornerman to sort it out for you.
The cornerman should also use a stopwatch to time the rounds. The
cornerman can then tell you how much time you have left in the round. This is
useful because you may have a specific plan to stay standing for the first four
minutes and get a takedown in the last minute. Or, sometimes, you may be
stuck in submission, and it’s good to know you only have 15 seconds to hang
on till the end of the round.

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KEEPING THE ATHLETE IN THE ZONE
Any athlete needs to be kept in the zone during competition. The Zone is a
state where you feel calm, confident, and in control. Too much intensity can be
just as bad as too little intensity. Every fighter is different-some will need firing
up, whilst others need calming down. Hopefully, your cornerman knows which
method you prefer. There’s nothing worse than wanting a chilled-out build-up,
and you have someone screaming at you to get pumped up.

Explain to your cornerman how you want the atmosphere in your changing
room. Personally, I preferred to sleep and relax before fighting. Others prefer
a lot of loud music and a big crowd of supporters with a lot of energy. The
cornerman should constantly be monitoring the situation and adapting as
necessary. For example, if the fighter is getting stressed with having too many
people around, the cornerman should try to find the fighter a quiet spot
somewhere or let him or her sleep in the back of a car. Whatever it takes to
get them in their preferred zone. I was almost always asleep before my fights
and only really woke up just before the bell.

WARMING YOU UP
The time to fight is rapidly approaching, so you need to start warming up. Some
people prefer short intense warm ups and others prefer a longer, slower warm
up period. Tell your cornerman if they are not sure which type you would prefer.
Also, tell them specific things you would like to drill in the warm up. Once warm,
it’s a matter of staying warm and loose until the ring staff come to get you. Do
some light stretching and shadow box/grapple your game plan, to keep mind
and body sharp.

RECOVERY WORK
Here is where the cornerman really earns their money. In between rounds, the
cornerman has one minute to do the following:
• Facilitate recovery
• Rehydrate
• Slow the fighter’s breathing down
• First aid if needed
• Give technical advice
• Motivate the fighter
That’s a lot to do in one minute. You can spot an experienced corner team
because they have a system that works. A novice cornerman will try to do
everything at once, and the fighter looks more stressed when they

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stand up. Generally, you’re allowed two people in your corner, and they should
split duties to get as much work done as possible in the minute. Each person
should know their duties and responsibilities, so it looks and feels smooth.

This is how one minute in the corner should look:

1. Cornerman A: Carrying the stool, water, and ice bag enters first.
2. Cornerman B: Follows with the bucket.
3. Cornerman A: Gets the fighter to sit down and upright, and to take 3–4
slow deep breaths, places the ice bag on either the back of the neck or
to the heart.
4. Cornerman B: At the same time, this cornerman should be looking to
clean any injuries and deal with any bleeding/bruising. Bleeding takes
priority as blood can obscure vision and stop a fight. Bleeding is stopped
using a swab soaked in adrenaline. The cut is then sealed with Vaseline.
5. Cornerman A: After the deep breaths are completed, this cornerman can
give some sips of water and give three pieces of advice. Only give three,
as the fighter will forget any more. The brain is not good at processing
complex information or remembering much when fighting, so try to keep
it short and simple.
6. Cornerman B: If they have dealt with any injuries and applied Vase-line
(if allowed), they can stand back and fan the fighter with the towel to help
recovery.
7. Cornerman A: Offer more water, repeat the three instructions and get
acknowledgment from the fighter that they know what to do.
8. That’s it, time’s up, get out of there sharpish.
In contrast, I have seen cornermen do the following in the corner:
• Drop the bucket spilling its contents all over the floor.
• Pour a litre of water over their fighter’s head, and then had to mop it up
with the towel when the referee complained.

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 • Slap the fighter HARD.
• Stand there saying nothing and looking confused.
• Give no advice other than «Stop being such a pussy and go f**k him
up». True story.
• Give ten different technical pieces of advice.
• Have three people in the corner giving contradictory pieces of advice.
• Start a fight with the other corner team.

Which would you prefer? A calm, organised, and smooth-running machine or

a total, disorganised mess.

SHOUTING ADVICE DURING THE FIGHT

During the fight, the corner team should be watching the fight (hopefully) and
shouting specific advice to help their fighter win. I say “specific” because I have
heard cornermen shout classics such as “Hit him”. Well, duh! Only one person
should shout in the corner. Having three different people shout different things
over the roar of the crowd, messes with your head. Have the head coach, or
the person you hear most in training, shout instructions as loud and clearly as
possible.

You’ll need to work out a gym code specifically for fight night. This is because
if your corner shouts “head kick”, then everyone- including your opponent- has
heard what you are going to do next. Most gyms have a specific numbering
system for this purpose. For example, “3” could be head kick. This is easier to
shout and keeps your opponent guessing.

Once you are at the venue, get your bearings, find out where the changing
rooms are, where the toilets are (you will need them a lot), learn the route to
the cage. Get in the cage, if allowed, so you can gauge the size as some cages
are bigger than others. Get a feel for the cage floor.
The first time I stood in the UFC Octagon (when I cornered David Lee at UFC
94), I was very surprised at how soft the floor was. This is a distinct advantage
for the grappler, as it is harder for the striker to move and explode off the floor,
if it’s soft.
Move around in the cage and visualise yourself applying your game plan and
winning the fight. Check the cage walls. Are they soft (so you can sit back into
them) or are they springy (which you can bounce off)? Get to know as much
as you can about the whole environment, so you feel comfortable.

After a while and a lot of toilet visits, there should be a rules meeting. If you
don’t have a rules meeting—run! It means the promoter doesn’t care for the

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fighter’s safety. Usually, the referee will explain the rules and allow you and
your coach to ask questions. Don’t be worried about asking questions, it’s your
ass in the cage, not theirs. We were once at a show where the rules meeting
was very disorganised. Later, during one of our guy’s fights, he got mounted
and (thinking it was no head shot amateur rules), he didn’t defend his head.
Unfortunately, this particular amateur event did allow punches to the head on
the ground (which is very rare in the U.K.). This took us and my fighter by
surprise, and he ended up getting choked out. Lesson learnt.

Always double check with the promoter/ref about the rules and ask any
questions you need to at the rules meeting. Usually in the U.K., the main
differences between amateur and semi-pro rules are that you cannot strike to
the head on the ground in amateur fights, and the rounds are usually shorter.
Although, as mentioned, this can vary from promotion to promotion. Check the
rules thoroughly!
Next, is your physical exam to check if you are fit enough to fight. A doctor or
paramedic should check your heart rate, blood pressure, eyes, and ears. This
is to make sure you are physically able to fight. This usually takes a couple of
minutes and is nothing to worry about.

A few hours (yes, hours) later, you will be told when you are fighting, and you
can start warming up. Some people like long warm ups, some like short. Speak
to your coach, and tell him which you personally prefer. At least make sure you
break a sweat, run through your game plan, hit some mitts and grapple. Long,
drawn-out warm ups for 30–45 minutes are common, but we think this is
counterproductive.

You need to be warm, but you don’t want to be exhausted and leave your best
work in the changing room. A 15–20 minute warm up, with a stretch or
massage is enough for most people. But if you like longer, adjust it accordingly.
My fighters warm up with:
• A light mobilisation and stretch.
• 2–3 rounds of shadowboxing, running through the game plan.
• Pummelling for a round.
• MMA pads for 2–3 rounds.
• Light grapple working escapes for 3–5 minutes.
Then they stay warm, wrap up, and stay loose until fight time. Concentrate on
your game plan and regulate your breathing. It’s time to fight! Remember your
plan A and B.

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 Fight time
So here you are, standing across the cage from some nutter who wants to
punch you in the face. What not to do first—try not to think: “Shit, he is big” or
“Man, he looks mean”. Keep your thoughts positive. Remember, that’s what
he’s thinking about you as well.

Run through your game plan in your head. Don’t waste your time with trying to
look mean or scary, just focus on what you are going to do. Stay calm and
remember to breathe.

THINGS TO EXPECT
It will start fast

As soon as the fight starts, expect it to begin quite fast. Novice fighters are
nervous and just want to get on with it, so there isn’t much of a feeling-out
process. A lot of beginners just want to get it over with, so they charge out and
go after it. This can be a bit of a surprise if you’re not used to it, because it
breaks you out of your preferred rhythm, making you freeze. It’s important to
train for a fast start, so it doesn’t upset you when it happens on fight night. You
do this during your last few sparring sessions. Instruct your sparring partners
to come out hard and fast, so you get used to having someone charge straight
at you. Ninety percent of first time fights start and finish quickly, usually within
the first round.
You will get hit
Any fantasies you had of ducking under the first punch, getting a beautiful
takedown, and finishing with a slick submission will evaporate pretty quickly.
Expect the stand up to be pretty rough and ready, and expect to get hit hard.
You are in a fight, so you will get hit. The important thing is to decide what will
happen after you’ve been hit. There are two types of people in this situation:
those that cower and back off when hit, and those that bite down hard and try
to get revenge. It’s worth knowing which type of person you are before you get
in the cage. Neither is better, and each has its strengths and weaknesses, but
you need tactics to cope when you get hit hard.

Try to follow your game plan

Keep your hands up and chin down and do your best to implement your game
plan. The best way to slow down the action (if it’s too much for

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you) is to clinch and push them up against the cage or shoot for a takedown
and put them on their back. Grappling is slower than striking, so take it there if
the pace is too fast for you.
Try not to make any obvious mistakes in the first couple of minutes as you get
your timing and distance down. Be conservative, yet aggressive.
That means don’t try your patented double jump knee until later in the fight.
Your opponent is still fresh and switched on, so K.I.S.S. Basic, strong stand
up, backed up by a solid game plan, should help you control the fight.

No plan survives contact with the enemy

Even with the most strategic plan, shit happens during a fight. You may plan
to get an immediate takedown and control from there. Then bam! Your
opponent gets a takedown, and you end up on your back. The plan has gone
out of the window. This is why you need a plan B. You should never expect
your plan to work perfectly, there are too many variables that can alter it. If plan
A fails, then go to plan B.

Make sure you control your breathing as well. You’ll be nervous in your first
fight, and beginners have a habit of holding their breath when fighting. This is
disastrous, because you are working at near maximum effort and not
breathing. What’s going to happen? … Well, you will gas out quickly. You need
to be consciously breathing throughout the entire fight, and deep breathing
during lulls in the action, such as when clinching or in your corner between
rounds.
Expect to be exhausted almost immediately

All novices say how tired they felt during their first fight. This is partially due to
not breathing correctly, but also due to the adrenaline dump you get in the
fight. When you get hit or pinned in a bad spot, your body releases adrenaline
to help you keep going and escape. Adrenaline turbo charges your body, but,
unfortunately, burns through your energy fast.

You need to avoid adrenaline dumps or at least expect them, so you don’t get
caught out mid-fight. It’s a weird sensation, because you know you are fit
enough, and yet you’re still tired. This is where your training and conditioning
should kick in. No matter how fit you are, you should expect to be totally
exhausted by the end of the first round.

I bet you sit there thinking, “Not me, I’m in great shape; I will be fine to go all
three rounds hard”. But the reality of combat is that unless you are

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desensitised to fighting, you will get very tired, very quickly. It takes your body
four or five fights before it starts to feel comfortable and you get into a groove.
So expect your first few fights to be tough, as you learn to adapt to the stress
of violent competition.

Between rounds you get to rest for a minute (joy!). Your corner team should
offer you water, cool you down, and offer a few points of advice. Try to listen
to them—they are detached from the action and can see exactly what your
opponent is up to, before you can.

I have lost count of the number of times I’ve told a fighter something, and
they’ve done something completely different. What’s the point in having a
coach if you don’t listen to them? Rant over.

COMMON NOVICE ERRORS

I have watched a lot of fights in the past 25 years, and, surprisingly, the same
mistakes continue to be made. Let’s look at the most common errors novice
fighters make, during their first MMA fight:
1. No plan
Many novices step into the cage without having a plan of how to win the fight.
They’re either incredibly brave or, more likely, incredibly stupid. Fighting is
dangerous and some people get in the cage and just hope to win. Absolute
madness.
2. No fitness
I have lost count of the number times a steroid monster steps into the cage,
fights for 60 seconds, and is exhausted. Even if you feel exhausted, your
opponent should never know. I don’t know what these people have been doing,
(other than injecting illegal drugs), but it certainly doesn’t work well for them.
Fitness is a weapon—make sure you’re the one using it.
3. Getting overly aggressive
Too often, a fighter is doing great at controlling the fight, has a sudden rush of
blood to the brain and charges forward recklessly into a fist or a well-timed
takedown. What you need when fighting, is cold aggression: the ability to
pressure and relentlessly hunt the opponent down, but in a detached, almost
clinical manner. Fighting someone like that is very scary-as they don’t react
emotionally.
4. Being too passive at the start of the fight
Generally, the person who initiates tends to dominate, as the opponent is put
on the defensive. Waiting passively to see what they do is a very bad

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idea. Get out there early, control the centre of the cage, and try to set your
pace. Put them under pressure immediately and make them defend.
5. Not listening to their corner
Many times, I’ve given my fighter simple instructions on what they need to do,
only to have them go do the complete opposite. What happened? I know I said
the words, and I know they heard me, but after that I’m not sure. Always listen
to your corner. They have a detached, objective view of the action, so they can
see the various elements of the fight more accurately. Listen to everything they
say and implement it as soon as possible.

6. Smothering their work

This is a term from boxing, which means getting too close to do any damage.
I have seen this frequently, where one fighter has another hurt and charges
forward, shortening their punches, and getting wrapped up in a clinch. If you
hurt your opponent, take a half step back and put full extension and power into
your strikes.
7. Repeating the same mistakes
Fighter A takes fighter B down three times off a kick in round one. So what
does fighter B do at the beginning of round two? That’s right; he kicks and gets
taken down again. If something doesn’t work twice in a row, abandon it and do
something else. Remember, what Einstein said

“Insanity is, to keep doing the same thing, but expecting different
results”
8. Losing position to chase submission
Fighter A has fighter B mounted. Then fighter A suddenly dives off to try for a
lying arm bar, and ends up underneath, getting punched for the remaining
three minutes of the round. First round goes to fighter B. It’s so easy to throw
away entire rounds, if not fights, by giving up a dominant position in the hope
of securing a submission. Don’t do it!
9. Folding under pressure
This is a big one. Anyone can shine and look amazing when they’re winning,
but what separates a real fighter from everyone else is what they do when they
are losing. There are essentially two types of people here: those that fold and
those that fight. Usually, those that fold break mentally.
They are obviously hurting physically, but the thing that causes them to quit is
always their mind. At some point, they decide they’ve had enough and stop
fighting back.

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The other type of person uses the pain and shock, to force themselves back
into the fight. They channel their fear and anger and use it to survive, and they
come back firing. The only way to find out how you will react in this situation is
to put yourself there repeatedly during training. Shark-tank training is a great
test, where you fight a fresh opponent every round for five rounds.
As you become more tired, and each fresh opponent starts pushing your
fitness, you’ll find out whether you start looking for an exit or find the mental
strength to fight on.
10. Becoming mentally broken if they lose

MMA is a fight between two people in a cage. One person will win and one
person will lose. Everyone loses at some point, whether at the beginning,
middle, or end of their career. Losing has to be an accepted reality of fighting.
Sometimes you’re the hammer, and sometimes you’re the nail. If you accept
the fact that you may lose, before you step into the cage, then you may cope
better when it happens.

Obviously, expect to feel like crap for a few days as your bruised ego mends,
but understand that losing is inevitable. The important thing is how you come
back stronger and better for your next fight. Treat losing as a learning
experience, rather than as a death. This way you will learn from it and grow as
a person.

Every true champion has come back from a loss a better fighter than they were
before. The secret is to use the rage and hurt you feel as fuel for your next
fight. Have a beer, have a cry, chat to your mates, and realise that loss is
temporary, and you can come back better than ever.
Ideally try not to make all, or any, of these mistakes in your first fight. MMA is
a learning experience, and when learning something new, it’s wise to take the
advice of people who have walked the path before you. Having read this book,
you are would be a fool if you don’t take advantage of what other fighters,
coaches, and I have learnt.

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 Post fight
Coaches: A few days after the fight sit down with your fighter and talk to
them about…

• What they did well. Even in fights you lose, there will have been things
you did well. Sometimes, you will do everything perfectly, and your
opponent is just better than you on that night. There is no shame in losing
in situations like that. You did your best, executed your game plan
perfectly, and, unfortunately, the other guy/girl was just a bit better that
time. So be proud of the things you did well.

• What they didn’t do well. Fights are weird and do strange things to
people. We generally accept that performance and technique will drop
by a minimum of 25% during your first few fights. Why is this? Well, the
stress of combat either makes you better or, more often, makes you
worse.

If you expect this to happen, it’s not a problem, but if you expect to bust
moves like you do in the gym with the same level of skill, you’re likely to
be disappointed. Your coach will make you aware of areas which need
improving.

• Formulate a plan to improve their weaknesses and build on their

strengths. Let’s say they won, but got kicked in the legs a lot during the
fight. Their training, going forward, should focus on improving kick
defence as a priority. You need to do this because your rivals/
competitors will be avidly watching their fights on YouTube, looking for
weaknesses. Any problem areas need to be fixed before their next fight,
to keep them ahead of their opponents.

• Make any changes needed to the training plan. If there are some areas
of concern, they need to be added to the fight camp plan. Problems with
fitness or muscular endurance can be remedied with an increase of pad
training, sparring, or hill sprints. Whatever they need to work on, goes
into the plan for next time.

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