"I'm Scared to Death Before Every Fight"

Imagine being ranked the #1 fighter in the world.

One might assume if you were in that position you wouldn't be afraid of anyone. However, this is actually the opposite of the truth.

Isn't it interesting that top-level fighters report high levels of fear?

Today we're exploring the relationship top fighters have with fear, and what we can learn from it.

You paint your world with your thoughts, so what do fighters think and say about fear?

Here's Mike Tyson, one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, on fear:

Here's Jon Jones, one of the GOATs of the UFC on fear:

He's had a dominant run in the UFC, and chose to move up weight classes into heavyweight because “The fear was gone, I didn’t really fear these guys”.

He states “I just wanted more. I wanted to be nervous again, I wanted to have fear again. I think fear is healthy”.

Think of the stark contrast between the relationships the average person and these fighters have with fear.

Most people avoid fear like the plague, yet he runs towards it.

Their perspective on fear is from an entirely different angle.

The average person treats fear as unhealthy and to be avoided, which is a result of the comfortable and sheltered modern lifestyle.

Most people shrink away from situations they're fearful of and believe they'd do it if only they weren't afraid.

Sometimes you need to do something purely for the reason that it scares you. Fear is healthy.

If we had no fear whatsoever we'd have no ability for risk assessment and no judgement. You’d jump off a cliff out of curiosity.

An example of somebody needing to do something simply because they're afraid to do so is moving out of the house or asking someone on a date.

From a third-person perspective, it's easy to see this person has an outsized benefit to moving out because they're moving from their comfort zone. This will force them to grow and mature. Same thing with asking somebody on a date. The person who has an apprehension to doing so will also have outsized returns. Even if the 'worst case' happens they'll grow as a person.

However, from the first-person perspective in both situations, you're consumed and blinded by fear.

People think their fear is rational, which is just plain wrong. Fear is the brain on high alert for threats, and the brain tends to catastrophize or misinterpret situations.

When optimizing for survival in nature, better safe than sorry. But, modern life is a different ball game than nature.

A saying about fear is it's “A mile wide and an inch deep”. Which means it's daunting until you step into it. It's largely an illusion of the mind, a projection rather than the probable outcome.

Something to note is that all fears are children of the fear of death. Fear of rejection derives from the threat of getting pushed from the tribe (which spells death for the primitive human). Fear of failure derives from appearing or confirming to yourself and others that you aren't useful/important, also spelling death for past humans.

The ‘quest for immortality’ is rampant among humans for this reason. Trying to write the great American novel and be remembered forever. Living vicariously through your children, passing on your legacy. The desire to make a mark in history, to have your name remembered.

This all springs from the fear of death, which is just a plea for more time.

The reality is we are only a blip in time. On the cosmic timescale, humans have only been around for a fraction of a second.

You have a set of sensory experiences then you die, and your interpretation of those experiences is up to you.

Going back to the different paradigms around fear that fighters have vs. the average person. It's worth considering which interpretation to choose for the inevitable fear you'll experience.

Jon Jones says: “I think my fear is why I've done so well”. The fear of getting knocked out, or embarrassing yourself on television and in front of the crowd. It makes you sharp, makes you train hard, keeps your focus, and brings out the most competitive version of you.

The hardest fight is the one you're expected to win. The fight against the underdog who's scared to death of you and will fight with everything.

In an interview on Joe Rogan, George St-Pierre says the only fight where he wasn’t afraid and slept well was his first fight with Matt Serra — one of his two career losses.

He also reports that in his early career he believed the fear would eventually subsist, that as he gained experience he'd become less afraid. However, he says the reality was it only grew, bigger fights, bigger stakes, better opponents, etc... What he did get better at was dealing with it, not allowing it to consume him.

All this leads us to the contrarian conclusion that fear isn't something to be avoided, it's to be used: directed towards preparation and success. It will never cease as a barrier to action, you only get better at dealing with it.