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The Ultimate Warriors
On June 1st, at 9 p.m., the Arco Arena of Sacramento, California roared with excitement. The anticipation climaxed when the two titans of the featherweight division clashed. Jens Pulver vs. Urijah Faber had already been considered by many to be one of the greatest Mixed Martial Arts fights to take place, and this night proved it to be quite true. Urijah Faber, the current featherweight champion of the World Extreme Cagefighting network, entered the Octagon with twenty-two wins and only one blemish to his professional record. Jens Pulver showed up with eight wins and zero losses to his name in the 145 pound weight class. When the fight started, both combatants momentarily circled each other. This display showed the respect between the two mixed martial artists. The circling lasted fifteen seconds before the champ decided it was time to get down to the nitty-gritty as he landed a huge overhand right to the challenger’s jaw. Pulver took the powerful punch in stride as he then countered with a knee strike toFaber’s rib cage. Faber landed another right while Jens launched another knee, this time dangerously close to Urijah’s face. After a few more similar shots, it was almost as if Urijah and Jens switched striking styles as Faber started dishing out devastating knees, and Pulver launched rockets at the champ’s face. As the fight carried on, momentum shifted back and forth, keeping this match very even. However, Urijah Faber better weathered the storm, and the result was Faber raising his hand with the title belt in it and both fighters leaving with swollen faces and marked bodies. This bout between these two extreme competitors lasted the maximum length of time that the cage fight was allotted. There were five battles for five minutes each, making this war between these two titans last for twenty-five total minutes.
This championship fight was a perfect example of why mixed martial artists are the ultimate warriors. These athletes are better conditioned for extremely punishing physical and mental situations than anyone else in the world. Mentally, they are tough. They have all of the necessary tactics to submit or knockout any opponent, as well as the ability to concentrate on what they need to do in order to win while receiving blow after blow from their opponents. These fighters have conditioned their bodies to compete at the peak level of performance and dish out severe punishment to anyone who may challenge them. Also, they have trained themselves to look past the physical part of pain that the brain registers every time they are struck by another fighter.
Mental toughness is a key characteristic of anyone who competes in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (M.M.A.). These fighters know that they will only be paired up against the best mixed martial artists this world has to offer. Yet, they still take on any challenge. This is due to their years of training different forms of martial arts giving them the confidence that they have what it takes to win a fight, no matter the opponent. They are trained with many fighting techniques such as joint locks, chokes, and powerful strikes. While you may think this has to do with mental alertness, which it does, the key is the toughness. Sure, these guys are alert enough to administer such attacks, but keep in mind that these combatants are administering them while being attacked themselves. While concentrating on performing such attacks, they are receiving the pain from their opponent’s attacks as well. They still somehow manage to focus on the next step of winning their fight. This is an excellent display of mental toughness. An M.M.A. bout is absolutely the most physical game of chess that you will ever see.
These modern day gladiators have very dangerous striking ability. According to “Sports Science”, they tested the differences in power between certain strikes. With the Muay Thai knee strike, the test dummy recorded a chest compression of about one and one-half inches. This is the equivalent to a thirty-five mile per hour car accident without a seatbelt. While this impressive, it does not even compare to the experiment of the roundhouse shin kick. In this experiment, Bas Rutten, a professional mixed martial artist, applies the roundhouse shin kick to the chest of the test dummy. The number recorded was so unbelievable, the scientist running the test told Bas that the equipment had an error and asked that he do it again. The same numbers were put up by Rutten in his second attempt. The scientist explained the results in shock. Bas Rutten had forced two and seven-tenths inches of compression in the dummy’s chest. For those that may not know, that is enough force to cause heart trauma! The output power capability of the mixed martial artist is truly incredible.
It would not do you much good as a fighter to be able to cause so much pain to an individual if you were not capable of handling pain dispensed to you. Mixed martial artists condition their bodies like mad in order to minimize the pain response in the brain. This is done through many exercises, all of which cause bone strengthening, muscle density, or possible nerve damage. Traditional Muay Thai fighters train through pain by kicking and punching trees. Over time, when striking such objects, calcium deposits build up to create a protective layer over the bone. This helps the fighter to prevent a serious injury to the bone, such as a break. This type of training can also kill the nerves in the limb used to strike. Other M.M.A. fighters practice building muscle density by having people they train with punch them in the stomach repeatedly. They do not punch as hard as they can, but they do strike with a fair amount of intensity to train the core of the fighter to withstand such punishment while breathing. After their conditioning has progressed over the years, mixed martial artists can withstand such devastating blows that would temporarily cripple a normal person.
Training for such results can be temporarily damaging to the body, but to the M.M.A. fighter, it is worth such a possibility. Mixed martial artists train their bodies to optimal power output. They condition their bodies to receive a great deal of punishment as well. Every time they decide to continue in a fight, their mental toughness shines through. All of their fighting is done without the use of a single weapon other than the human body.
Mixed martial artists are the ultimate fighters. These fighters are the ultimate warriors.
Nick Green
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