Courage is the most awe-inspiring element of MMA. More than any KOs/subs, witnessing fear confronted is the sport's real magic.

We all know this – we cheer the loudest when ‘defeated’ fighters roar back into battle & back and forth wars are always voted Fight of the Year. 1/

And yet, as Darren Till pointed out recently, we don’t talk about fear in MMA much.

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear" - Mark Twain

If we can't talk about fear, we can't talk about courage. And both have become all but taboo in MMA. 2/

I learned how taboo when I tweeted for views on the bravest fighters awhile ago.

I got some thoughtful replies – inc some fighters – but those were soon drowned out by sad virtue signallers, feigning outrage & demanding to know if I'd “made that walk” to the cage myself. 3/

This sort of civilian shaming, this taboo is doing everyone in the sport a huge disservice - not least of all the fighters who go without due praise for their extraordinary mettle and force of will.

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It’s infuriating to hear TV commentators gush on the ‘bravery’ of golfers sinking putts & soccer teams with 10men, while the likes of Frankie Edgar are euphemized as ‘gritty’ or ‘gutsy’.

Bravery is an entry level requirement for MMA, but it always worth full acknowledgement 5/

Half the pop-culture TV shows and movies, from sci-fi to rom-coms, tell stories about overcoming fear and finding courage.

And yet in MMA, where we witness the real thing in front of our eyes, we aren’t allowed to so much talk about it? It’s absurd. 6/

How fighters deal with their own fears and doubts is every bit as interesting as how they deal with the challenge of their opponents.

Not only do we have a culture where the remarkable is barely remarked upon, but we cut ourselves off from a fuller understanding of MMA.

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For example, when we perceive danger (say, a cage fight) a region of the brain called the amygdala triggers the acute stress response (aka fight or flight)

Releasing adrenaline is the only the start of a process which gives fighters every possible advantage vs that danger. 8/

Ever wondered why a three inch gash over the eye of any given contender doesn’t seem to bleed nearly as much as a shaving nick?

The answer is the acute stress response temporarily augments the blood clotting process (“coagulation”) in anticipation of imminent lacerations. 9/

Remember how Forrest Griffin, Rich Franklin, Paige Van Zant and others were able to continue to fight after their forearms were snapped?

The periaqueductal gray area of their brains had released powerful natural painkillers to get them through. 10/

And fighters aren’t lying when they claim not to hear the arena rattling horns signaling the end of rounds.

The phenomenon of perceptual tunneling – when the brain laser focuses on dealing with front and center danger - can literally switch off the sense of hearing

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Fighters often state that the sport is more mental than physical... maybe we should take them at their word?

Every fight is a war on two fronts: against an opponent and against fear and doubt. If we ignore one we miss out on insight to explain the other.

For example:

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When Stipe KO'd DC after losing the first 3rds, we focused his “technical adjustments” (bodyshots).

Yet Stipe said the difference maker was him finally shaking his fear of getting KO’d again.

“I fought like a bitch” was his overly harsh self-assessment of R1-3.

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When Bisping rematched Hendo, his mental state vs a man who'd scored one of the most brutal KOs in history against him wasn't explored much.

And yet - as he detailed in the Best Selling "Quitters Never Win" - he had a battle royal with self doubt the night of the fight. 14/

And it took Darren Till actually bringing up the fact he was so “scared” he was “shaking” for us to really consider that here was a guy who’d been KO’d a welterweight in his most recent fight going into a brawl with one of the hardest hitting middleweights (Kelvin).

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Fighters are not special because they are unafraid. They are special – and inspirational – because they have the same fears you & I would have making "that walk" and yet - somehow - get in there and fight anyway.

And they keep doing it, after every strike, as they tire...

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If you subtract the battle between fear and courage from MMA, you are left with complicated violence. There's so much more to our sport than that.

And I - for one - want to talk about it. 17/

So… I’ve done just that.

I’m no expert, but I want to be. So I spoke to people who are including @Bisping, @SugaRashadEvans @ChaelSonnen @ForrestGriffin + top sports psychologists like @goldmedalmind for a little a series I've imaginatively dubbed "COURAGE IN THE CAGE."

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This is my attempt tweak the status quo a little, share some of the insights I’ve learned over the years and – more than anything – pay homage to every fighter who stepped into a cage.

I'm launching it soon.

I hope you’ll give it a read here: https://ultimateinsider.substack.com/ 

ENDS