The MMA Digest

“I’m practicing my lucky punch”, quips Patrick Cote at a pre fight press conference pumping up UFC 90 this weekend in Chicago.  While he’s taking a jab at the MMA media who are not giving him much of a shot against Anderson Silva this weekend, there’s much truth in the words which emanate from behind the French Canadian’s patented smirk.

Most people agree Anderson Silva is the better striker, BJJ artist, and has a takedown and ground defence that can likely thwart any wrestling endeavours Cote plans to implement on Saturday night. Thus the reasoning behind the conclusion that many have made—Cote needs to get lucky. Most people feel the only way he can win is to get lucky and catch Silva with a big shot and knock him out.  Cote can indeed practice that.

Some might call it a lucky punch, seizing the moment, capitalizing on a mistake. But luck is often defined as opportunity meets preparation, and Cote can and surely is preparing to create such an opportunity tomorrow night. He need not have to fight the fight of his life, round of his life, or even minute. Often a split second can determine the outcome of a fight. Frank Shamrock stated quite aptly that victory in the cage belongs to the fighter who does the most damage in the shortest period of time. Cote could be outclassed for much of the fight with Silva but a power shot to the chin of the Brazilian could be all that is needed. That’s why we watch MMA, for moments of unpredictability such as those.

There’s a traditional martial arts saying which says, “Don’t fear the person who has studied a thousand techniques one time. Fear the person who has studied one technique a thousand times.” That technique can be a “lucky” punch. If you look at some of the top knockouts in the past few years, many of them were performed countless times in the gym and in the mind of the fighters beforehand with visualization. James Irvin, who has become somewhat legendary in the UFC with 2 classic knockouts is a testament to this line of thinking. His flying knee KO of Terry martin in their bout has been a UFC highlight reel staple. While seemingly appearing out of nowhere, it was a strike which he practiced and visualized hundreds of times. Irvin’s superman punch which dropped Houston Alexander at the beginning of their fight was a result of the exact same process.

Rashad Evans, who will be fighting for the UFC light heavyweight strap in December, also is a good example. Visualization has been a big part of his success. Although he was known as pretty much just a wrestler for a long time, that all changed with his brutal headkick knockout of Sean Salmon. Evans had already knocked out Salmon prior to stepping into the cage a plethora of times in his mind and by mimicking the technique in the gym.

All these powerful strikes where the result of good luck—opportunity meets preparation. Indeed the harder you work the luckier you get. Cote surely has a few of these techniques in his bag of tricks. If he pulls out one tomorrow and defeats Anderson Silva he should not be offended if it is called a lucky strike. Those with a deep understanding and appreciation of the MMA game know how much work went into that good fortune.