The Sprawl 10.15.09: Volume 34 - The MMA Mental Game

Posted by Alex Mattis on 10.15.2009

With the recent news of a Tito Ortiz-Forrest Griffin rematch, many wonder if Forrest can recover mentally from his loss to Anderson Silva. 411’s Alex Mattis takes a look at that question and a look at the fighters the mental game has defeated.


Hello all and welcome back to "The Sprawl!" As always, a whacky couple of weeks in the world of MMA with news coming in from every-which-way. As interesting and head-scratch inducing as some of the news tidbits were nothing caught my attention more than a recent interview with Forrest Griffin. To my knowledge this was the first interview he has done since losing to Anderson Silva via a shocking and devastating knockout in the first round of their bout at UFC 101. Right after I saw the interview the news broke that Forrest will be stepping up at UFC 106 to replace Mark Coleman for a long-awaited rematch with Tito Ortiz. This is fight is going to set the course for the rest of Griffin's competitive career.

First off if you haven't already, watch this.



Okay. Now... LET'S GET DOWN TO IT!

One could take several things away from this interview with Forrest. One could see that he still has his incredible sense of style or that his wit and humor is at the top of its game. One could also notice the discomfort and dismissal Forrest has for the topic of his fight with Anderson Silva. Now this fight is two-month-old, Forrest should have accepted it by now right? Probably, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I may be looking to deep into the interview, I may be seeing something that no one else is, but I fear this loss may turn into a crippling mental block in Forrest's fighting career. This has happened several times before where a top fighter will suffer that one loss that he physically recovers from but is never the same mentally, thus never the same fighter.

Tim Sylvia was a killer. Murderous destructions of Cabbage, Ricco Rodriguez, and Gan McGee led many to believe that there was going to be a giant standing atop the UFC's heavyweight hill for years to come. He was the heavyweight champion, he was one of the top ranked in the world, he was on Celebrity Blind Date which is neat... I guess. Tim's downfall would come quickly, even while his hype snowball continued to roll. After serving a suspension given by the NSAC Tim stepped back into the cage to fight for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Title. His opponent: Frank Mir. The fight lasted less than a minute and the end result was Tim's arm being broken via Mir's armbar. Almost a year after the loss to Mir, Tim stepped back into the octagon to fight for the UFC heavyweight title. He was submitted again, this time by Andre Arlovski; he got caught with a big right-hand and sub'd with an Achilles lock. Tim bounced back with a headkick KO over Tra TellIigman, serving as his last dominating, spectacular peformance for years to come. In his next fight Tim fought Assuerio Silva, or you could say that he only did enough to win and not get hit. This was the beginning of the Tim Sylvia that got boo'd.

The Tim of old would have starched Silva and turned in a devastating finish, but with the lingering memories of what happened with the "old Tim" in his head Sylvia chose to keep it conservative. In his 2nd fight with Arlovski Tim should have been KO'd. He ate one of the nastiest overhand-rights ever seen/heard and his legs were about as sturdy as linguine. As fate would have it, Andre chose to lung in and lead with his chin as Tim threw some renegade uppercut that caught AA and put him out!


This doesn't even look right anymore

This would mark the return of the old Tim right? WRONG! His quick submission losses, coupled with getting caught in the two Arlovski fights led Tim down a conservative path that turned him into one of the most boring and disliked fighters in MMA history. Notoriously infamous decision wins over AA and Jeff Monson left me wondering "who the fuck was that other guy with awful facial hair that killed Ricco Rodriguez?" Unfortunately for Tim his career, much like his fighting mentality, never recovered. Tim has gone 2-4 since his victory over Monson. Decisive losses to Randy Couture, Fedor, and Ray Mercer have left many MMA fans asking "who the fuck was that other, slightly skinnier guy with awful facial hair that use to be UFC champ?"

Oddly enough Andre Arlovski was the next notable fighter to show true signs of mental defeat. After his flash-knockout loss to Timmy, Andre immediately rematched the "Maine-iac" (btdubs, that never gets old) at UFC 61. After five of the most uninspired and inactive rounds of MMA I have ever seen Andre lost the decision to Tim (who basically won by moving forward more). Next on Andre's plate was top-ranked BJJ ace Fabricio Werdum. What many expected to be a classic turned into SnoozeFest 2k7. Andre barely, and I mean barely, did enough to win.


"You old so-and-so!"

That fight more than any other displayed the trepidation that Arlovski had. His explosiveness wasn't the same. The killer-instinct that was blatant in his blastings of Paul Buentello and Justin Eilers was gone. Many believed Andre feared losing too much. Since the Werdum fight Andre has had his up's and down's. He has racked up wins over Jake O' Brien, Ben Rothwell, and Roy Nelson but has lost to Brett Rogers and Fedor... both by KO (the knockout loss to Fedor is destined to make highlight reels for lifetimes to come). Andre Arlovski should be recognized as an incredible fighter, and one of the best heavyweights of his era, but he is a prime example of what can happen to a fighter once they have been mentally hindered.

Of course, no other example is more fitting than that of Mirko Cro Cop. When Cro Cop entered the UFC he was thought to be "the most destructive force in the heavyweight division short of Fedor," as Joe Rogan put it best. After his beating of Eddie Sanchez, Mirko was put in what many looked at as a technicality when he fought Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70 to determine the #1 contender. In what will go down as one of the most legendary/ironic/brutal/OMFG knockouts of all time, Gonzaga KO'd Mirko with a headkick. That's right - GG CC'd CC.


This says it all...

Despite what anyone will tell you, this was it. This was the end of Mirko Cro Cop's career as a top-level competitive fighter. Mirko in his return fight against Cheick Kongo bared no resemblance to the Cro Cop that terrorized Japan for years. Kongo picked apart a man who looked like he once knew how to fight but couldn't quite remember how. Since the loss to Kongo, Mirko valiantly tried to regain his standing amongst the world's top heavyweights but has gone 2-1-1 NC with both victories coming under scrutiny, the NC being looked at as a loss, and the loss being viewed as a sad end. For one of the greatest fighters that has ever walked the Earth, the sudden and devastating downfall he experienced can be traced back to the Gonzaga fight. He never fully recovered from that night in Manchester.

Bringing this back to where we started, I hope my fears are premature and that Forrest is just being Forrest and not showing signs of a man who has been mentally scarred. What happened to Forrest at UFC 101 was more than enough to mentally shut down a fighter for good. Now mentally springing back is much, much easier said than done but the fact of the matter is no UFC fighter not named Kalib Starnes has anything to be ashamed or embarrassed or mentally affected by when they lose in the octagon, after all they are fighting in the octagon for a reason. For Forrest Griffin to get shut down because of his loss to Anderson Silva would be a true shame. Maybe I'm just reading too far in to things, maybe I'm just too much of a Forrest mark, maybe we're on to something... only time will tell.


You know... this would be hard to recover from

There are fighters like GSP, Josh Koscheck, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Thiago Silva that have suffered devastating KO losses and have comeback more impressive than ever. Then of course there are the Clay Guida's, Chris Lytle's, and Nick Diaz's whom you could saw one of their limbs off and they'd still be coming to the burn your house down in their next fight. Then there is that select group, like the names mentioned above, that are not the same after one fight. It can happen early in a career or late in one but once you're mentally done, you're done. Mental blocks are the absolute worst thing a fighter can face; it has turned champions and icons into shadows of their former selves.

I'll see you right back here next time for an in-depth look at UFC 104: Machida Vs. Shogun!

This Week's Top 5: Top 5 Matthew Broderick Movies
5. The Producers (FTW!)
4. The Cable Guy
3. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
2. Glory
1. Election

Remember feedback, as always, is welcome at [e-mail] or directly below.

Take care,
-Alex