Mental Toughness Is a Skill You Can Train.

When people talk about mental toughness in MMA, they usually mean someone who doesn't quit. That's certainly part of it, but I think mental toughness is much more than being willing to suffer.

MMA is going to make you uncomfortable. You're going to get tired. You're going to get hit. You're going to get taken down. You're going to get stuck underneath someone who is stronger than you. You're going to make mistakes. Sometimes you're going to be nervous before you train or compete.

Mental toughness isn't about never experiencing those things. It's about being able to perform when you do.

One of the best ways I've heard mental toughness described is the ability to get yourself into the state you need to perform when you need it. You can't always control what's happening around you, but you can learn to control how you respond to it.

That is a skill. And like any other skill in MMA, it can be trained.

Practice Being Uncomfortable

Most people think of training as practicing their technique when everything is going well. But competition isn't going to give you perfect conditions.

You're going to get tired. You might be behind on the scorecards. You might get caught with something you didn't expect. You might make a stupid mistake. Your opponent might be stronger than you expected.

You can actually practice dealing with these situations in training.

Start a round in a bad position. Start behind. Give your partner a specific advantage. Do a hard conditioning drill and then immediately have to perform a technical task. Put yourself in situations where your first instinct is to panic and learn to stay composed instead.

The point isn't to make training miserable. The point is to learn that being uncomfortable doesn't necessarily mean something has gone wrong. Sometimes discomfort is simply the situation you're in.

Learn to Control Your Response

One of the biggest differences between experienced and inexperienced athletes is what happens after something goes wrong.

A beginner gets swept and immediately becomes frustrated. They get submitted and start rushing. They get tired and their technique falls apart. They make a mistake and mentally check out of the round.

A more experienced athlete recognizes what happened, controls their emotions and gets back to work.

That doesn't mean they don't feel frustration. It means the frustration doesn't control what they do next.

That's something you can practice.

When something goes wrong during training, pay attention to what happens next. Do you panic? Hold your breath? Rush? Get angry? Give up on the position? Or can you take a breath, reset your posture, and make the next decision?

That moment after the mistake is an opportunity to train mental toughness.

Don't Only Visualize Success

Visualization can also be useful for MMA athletes, but I don't think you should only imagine everything going perfectly.

Imagine yourself walking into the cage calm and confident. Imagine executing your game plan. Imagine hitting your techniques exactly the way you've practiced them.

But also imagine something going wrong.

Imagine getting taken down. Imagine getting hurt. Imagine getting stuck underneath someone. Imagine making a mistake.

Then imagine yourself responding correctly. Get your breathing under control. Recover your position. Return to your game plan. Keep fighting.

The goal isn't to convince yourself that nothing will go wrong. It's to prepare yourself for the possibility that something will.

Mental Toughness Is Built in Training

You don't suddenly become mentally tough because the referee says, “Fight.” Competition simply reveals what you've developed beforehand.

If you've never practiced controlling your breathing when you're exhausted, don't expect to magically figure it out in a fight. If you've never practiced staying composed after making a mistake, don't expect yourself to remain calm when something goes wrong in competition.

If you've never trained yourself to keep working when you're uncomfortable, don't assume you'll suddenly develop that ability when the stakes are higher.

Train it.

Just like your jab, your takedown defense or your escapes.

Mental toughness isn't a personality trait that some people are born with and others aren't. It's something you can develop through practice.

Every difficult round is an opportunity to practice it. Every bad position is an opportunity to practice it. Every mistake is an opportunity to practice what you do next.

You don't have to wait until fight night to find out how tough you are.

You can train it now.