Focus or Awareness – Which Is Most Important in MMA?

An interesting question was posed to me recently. I was asked which mindset is more important for a mixed martial arts fighter in the heat of battle: is it better for them to have laser-like focus, drowning out everything around them while they lock on to nothing but their opponent, or is multi-tasking more advantageous? If a fighter is able to listen to their corner, feel where the cage is at, and also engage their opponent, is that the better way to fight?

While I’ve never fought in the cage professionally myself, I have trained at several MMA gyms over the last couple decades. I’ve also followed the sport since 2001, in which time I’ve seen numerous fighters begin and end their careers, many with completely different approaches to engaging in hand-to-hand combat in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans. I’ve also extensively studied sports psychology in the past due to my fascination with maximizing sports performance and “getting in the zone.”

What interests me most about this question is the fact that I’m not entirely sure there’s a definitive answer. We’ve seen successful fighters that rely on their cornermen to relay instructions, calling for particular combos or actions and various times in the fight. But we’ve also seen those almost-primal athletes that seem to develop tunnel vision, shutting everything off around them and singularly focusing on their opponent and the task at hand.

In this article, I want to explore some of the pros and cons of both approaches or mindsets. Fighters have unquestionably found success with both methods. And if one way is actually better than the other, is this even something a person can adjust?

Awareness

Some fighters treat mixed martial arts like a team game. During training camp, they drill specific scenarios and combinations and assign them all individual code names. When the actual fight is taking place, the corner yells out the various code words, and the fighter responds by launching the ordered attack.

Traditionally, fighters that employ this method of combat tend to be less athletic and explosive. Without being able to rely on overwhelming their opponent with physical prowess, these athletes utilize very precise game plans to get the most out of their abilities and overcome what would otherwise be a physical mismatch.

When Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture fought for the first time, there was no way Randy could just stand and trade with Chuck on the feet. Had he attempted to play the Iceman’s game, he would have eventually found himself waking up, looking up at the lights, and wondering what happened and what his name was. Instead, he employed an extremely methodical approach, slowly grinding him down until it was time to end the fight.

Pros

There are some benefits to going the uber-aware route and using all of your senses to your advantage. For one, your corner has the luxury of watching the fight from a different perspective, without the threat of someone standing in front of them throwing punches and kicks. That allows their mind to be more strategic and objective, picking up on patterns and strategies that may not be immediately apparent to an opponent.

In the heat of the moment, it may not feel like a particular combo is the correct choice. But if the corner sees an opening and calls for it, and the combination lands successfully, it can completely alter a bout. Fighters that are continually listening for instructions from their corner have a massive advantage in this way. As long as they put their full trust in their trainer and adhere to the commands, they can find openings that they’d otherwise have never considered on their own.

Really, being hyper-aware when fighting and utilizing your corner’s advice and all of your senses is a great way to overcome physical mismatches and eek out wins that would otherwise be unlikely. It’s a thinking man’s approach to fighting.

Cons

While being aware of the corner’s instructions and the sights and sounds around the bout can have its advantages, it can also be detrimental to a fighter’s performance. If the brain is multitasking, it isn’t paying as much attention to the most pressing issue of them all, which is the human being standing in front of you trying to cause harm. This can lead to unintended consequences.

Fighters that can hear the crowd are commonly affected by the boos or cheers of the fans. When the opponent lands a punch, causing the audience to react, you’ll see the recipient shake their head or try to communicate that the attack either didn’t hurt or didn’t really land. This can lead to frustration or bad decisions as the fight goes on.

There are times when the right approach to fighting a dangerous opponent is also the less exciting strategy. The boos of a crowd may prompt an aware fighter to abandon an advantageous position or stop attempting the tactics that are actually working. If an active wrestler keeps getting booed for trying takedowns, so they change their plan and start fighting on the feet, they’re no longer playing to their strengths.

For fighters that are always in communication with their cornermen, there are downsides as well. While there are many instances when yelling out combos or code words works perfectly, when it goes wrong, the results are disastrous. I think back to when Alexander Gustafsson fought Anthony Johnson in Sweden. Gustafsson’s corner yelled for him to throw the front kick, which his opponent heard. Johnson timed the kick that he knew was coming, countered it with a punch, and the fight was over shortly thereafter.

Tunnel Vision

On the other end of the spectrum, you have fighters that are able to shut everything else off, using 100% of their mental ability to focus on the challenge in front of them. These fighters aren’t thinking or feeling or receiving any advice. They are merely reacting and trusting their instincts.

In many sports, being able to reach this mental state is called “getting in the zone.” It’s when the conscious brain is no longer involved in decision making. Instead, the mind is blank, and there is no other input coming in; the only thing that exists at that moment is the task at hand, which is the fighter standing in front of you.

People spend lifetimes trying to control getting in and out of this mental state. They use strategies like meditation and visualization to train their mind to let everything else go. It’s been known to increase performance in a variety of activities, but also comes at the expense of a certain amount of awareness. When the corner is yelling instructions, it doesn’t even register, which can be a disadvantage if the information was helpful.

Pros

The ability to block everything else out and trust one’s instincts is a quality that many of the most celebrated athletes in history have shared. Everyone from Michael Jordan to Lance Armstrong possessed the ability to quiet their mind and focus all of their ability, like a laser, on what needs to be done. This allows you to ignore pain or fatigue, go unfazed by the crowd noise, and rid yourself of uncertainty or doubt.

When an athlete gets into the zone, they no longer have to think about what to do. Instead, their body just reacts. This state of being is exceptionally advantageous when fighting because reaction time is vital to avoiding attacks and timing your own offense. To be unencumbered by self-doubt and the various distractions around and inside the cage gives the fighter an absolute clarity that makes them extremely difficult to contend with.

There’s a reason why athletes from all walks of life spend so much time and effort trying to focus their mind and remove any excess noise. It has a positive effect and allows them to unleash abilities they may not otherwise have available.

Cons

While individual abilities do increase while experiencing tunnel vision, they also come at the expense of some other beneficial factors. There are times when our own natural instincts aren’t enough to solve the problem in front of us. In these situations, it may be helpful to be able to receive advice and information and adjust accordingly.

The problem is, he doesn’t seem to get the message when the opponent has tapped out and the ref has stopped the fight. Throughout his career, there have been numerous situations when he’s held a hold much longer than acceptable, causing outrage and anger throughout the MMA community. In fact, it cost him his career in a lot of ways. After making this mistake several times in a row, the UFC cut him from his contract, and he now is forced to fight in lesser-known and lower-paying organizations.

Another potential issue with laser-like focus is that it’s only as good as your training, your natural abilities, and your instincts. When an athlete gets locked in this way, but their skill set is such that they’re playing into their opponent’s hands, the focus can be to their detriment.

One fighter that comes to mind is Diego Sanchez. When he’s locked in on an opponent, there’s nothing that can stop him from walking forward and throwing his hands. Unfortunately, he’s no longer a top-level athlete. But because of his mindset, he’s unable to deviate from his natural instincts. If he were able to slow things down, receive instruction, and implement a different gameplan, his career would benefit from it greatly.

So Which Is Better?

As is usually the case, the answer is “it depends.” For the most part, it’s an advantage to be able to quiet one’s mind and allow their brain to focus solely on the task at hand. This can maximize reaction times and abilities and stop self-defeating thoughts from creeping into the brain.

But there are times when an opponent creates problems that even our 100% attention cannot solve. When these situations arise, the only way to win is to strategize and use every resource we have available. This includes the additional sets of eyes in our corner. We need them to tell us when to attack, what to expect, and how much time is left in the round.

If I had to pick one, I’d prefer having the ability to singularly focus and create tunnel vision. In my athletic career, I found thinking about messing up or worrying about the crowd reaction to mistakes severely limited my performances. In those rare occasions when my mind was totally free, I had the most meaningful moments in my athletic career. To be able to tap into that consistently would have been an enormous help.

But for those of us that cannot count on such a state of mind consistently, utilizing our awareness is a decent option as well. It allows us to make MMA more of a team effort, which can be comforting and encouraging. When you’re in a fight, it can be difficult to notice specific patterns and weaknesses, but from outside the cage, these things may be more apparent. As long as you’re able to trust the corner entirely, having those additional opinions can significantly turn the tide in your favor.

There are so many different types of people and thought processes in this world, there’s never going to be an answer that’s correct for every situation.

The tunnel vision fighters must drill their movement patterns religiously, as they’ll need to be crisp when they are on autopilot and do what’s comfortable naturally.

The awareness fighters must train their mind so that despite all of the input, they can still concentrate on the combat without allowing self-doubt or distractions to enter their mind. As long as you know which brain you have, you can make either mindset work. It just depends on the situation.