“I was a little traumatized by that”: so you finally underwent your first loss of MMA. Now what?

Let's say that you are a professional fighter and, against all odds, it goes incredibly for you. You win your first fight. Then another and another. Whenever they announce your professional file, you hear these magical words – “… and 0” – at the end of the sentence.

You haven't tasted defeat yet and who knows if you will never do it? The assembly evidence is starting to suggest that you may not be beaten. You could be the next Khabib Nurmagomedov. Losing is, for you, purely hypothetical.

So … oops. It happens. You lose your first fight. The aura has been perforated. The media threshing ball is deflated.

If it looks like Bo Nickal, who on Saturday evening at UFC of the monks lost its first fight After building a professional MMA record 7-0, then OK. But it could be anyone. In this sport, it is ultimately almost everyone.

Once upon a time, it was Rashad Evans. The former UFC heavyweight champion had 18 fights in total MMA before finally losing one. He won season two of “The Ultimate Fighter”. He struck the legend of MMA Chuck Liddell clean out. He became UFC champion at 205 pounds – the renowned sports division at the time – without ever knowing what it was to lose a professional fight.

Then it happened. During his first defense of the title of light heavyweights, he clashed against Lyoto Machida, who was also undefeated at the time. A little less than two complete laps later, he woke up on the web with a small number “1” in the loss column of his professional file.

“I thought I was indomitable,” Evans told without crown. “I thought I couldn't be beaten. And I really feel, when I would feel these nerves and everything before the fight, I didn't really know what was on the other side of what could happen, because I had never experienced it. Once I lost, I understood. And I was a little traumatized, to be honest.”

This is something that you will hear many fighters, especially those who were deeply in their careers before losing a fight. Everyone becomes nervous before going there to fight in cage on live television. But you get another type of nervous after having known the ugly side of things.

“Once I knew what was on the other side, I was a little paralyzed a little,” said Evans. “Just because now you have the anxiety of knowing what could happen. It exceeded me, so I had a sports psychiatrist to be able to help me mentally, help me do different techniques in order to get out of this type of mentality of the red light and in more mentality. ”

This post-enrollment anxiety can be a powerful force even when your first defeat does not come to the biggest scene. Just ask the BKFC heavyweight champion, Ben Rothwell, who abandoned his first fight by decision against Tim Sylvia, who would later become the UFC heavyweight champion.

Rothwell was still a teenager at the time, but he had eight MMA fights – all the victories, but not all recorded as professional fights on his file.

“In my mind, I was on a momentum,” said Rothwell. “I am like 8-0 and I take this guy from Miletich (combat systems). And a month ago, I had demolished someone to Iowa City, and Tim was there. It was the first time that I had seen Tim. And I said to myself:” Oh yeah, he's tall. “But I was, I don't know, a little arrogant, I suppose.

I thought I was indomitable. I thought I couldn't be beaten. I didn't really know what was happening on the other side because I had never experienced it. Once I lost, I understood. And I was a little traumatized by her.

Rashad Evans

Rothwell was in surprises against the larger and stronger Sylvia. They took the distance, and he had the opportunity to win, but when it was over and the decision was announced, Rothwell felt over one title.

“It was a big awakening,” said Rothwell. “I was 18 years old and it was the first time I had the impression:” Oh, there is someone as hard as I am? ” Is there a guy bigger and stronger than me? I was tall for an 18 -year -old child, but Tim was (6 feet 8 inch), like a 25 -year -old man.

As anyone will tell you, whether you are a first -rate hope or a UFC champion or simply a guy at an extreme Challenge event in Davenport, Iowa, the most important thing about this first loss is what you do afterwards. This is what you draw from it and how you apply it in the future that will determine what it means.

For example, Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez, who went from his undefeated to two defeats during his first three UFC fights, learned that some of the things he had done successfully on the regional circuit would simply not fly at the UFC level.

“I injured myself in the fighting, just because I needed money and I was in a bad place in my life and with my training, but I took it off,” said Hernandez. “It had always worked for me, so I thought I could continue to do it. I had to learn the hard time you can't say yes just for money. ”

Rashad Evans did not know what it meant to lose until he would face Lyoto Machida. (Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

(Josh Hedges via Getty Images)

For someone like Matt Brown retired from the UFC, it took a few losses to learn to incorporate lessons without letting fear of future failure become an obstacle in itself.

“I obviously had enough losses to be able to understand this s ** t, right?” Said Brown. “You should feel sad and feel depressed and let yourself be felt all these emotions, but you also need the good state of mind to overcome it. I think Bo Nickal probably has that, coming from Penn State and all the big coaches there. He lost in the fight before, so I think he is fine. But you cannot have the mentality where you are not so attached.”

But the thing about winning is that it can sometimes hinder growth. The losses oblige introspection, while the victory papers on the holes of your game. Seeing only positive results can sometimes strengthen bad habits.

It was something that Evans only realized after the defeat against Machida which cost him his title.

“What I started to understand is that my losses were cooked in my victories,” said Evans. “You know what I mean? They were cooked in there. Because when you win, you don't think of all the mistakes you have made. ”

This is what Evans will encourage a fighter like Nickal to do, he said. It was only after having lost for the first time that he returned and analyzed the video of his own fights in search of faults even in victories. That, he said, not only helped him think like his adversaries, but also helped him balance his confidence with humility.

“Your arrogance can hinder,” said Evans. “And as much as I believe that Bo Nickal is a real talent, he had arrogance. He had a lot of arrogance, because winning this does this to you. That does this to you. When you have the impression that you cannot miss, that's when you usually miss.”

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