MMA Mind Power: Who Powered Up at UFC 146?

On May 26, UFC delivered one of the best shows ever televised in MMA history. Despite several changes to the fight card, mostly due to Alistair Overeem’s drug test issues, the UFC 146card looked good on paper and it certainly looked even better in the cage. Some came out winners, some fell short!

Some will continue the rise, some will be back stronger, some might have a harder time coming back emotionally and one in particular will not come back at all (at least not in the UFC). In this article we look at who, of the main and co-main event, gained Mind Power, those who suffered from a Mind Power-Cut with confidence drop, depression, frustration, etcetera, and we will also provide practical advice and tips to get over that Power-Cut and get the “electricity” back in the minds of the fallen.

Main Event

As we predicted, Junior dos Santos got the W and he did so in a dominating fashion. On our recent Mind Power analysis article, we stated that Mir would enter the bout with great confidence enhanced by having defeated dos Santos’ mentor twice before. This was clearly the case at the start of the match and it remained the case until Mir tried to take dos Santos down but failed. This was the point where, in our opinion, the confidence levels started to shift. If the bout started with a confidence level of 9/10 for dos Santos and 10/10 for Mir, at that point the numbers would have changed to 10/10 for JDS and 8/10 for Mir. From there the champ would establish the perfect confidence height to 10 whilst Mir would lose one confidence-point with every minute of the fight.

We feel that when all was over, Junior dos Santos would have found a new level of confidence, a higher measure than he never experienced before. So, it is an obvious Mind Power Up for the champ.

However, we do not feel that Mir would suffer any psychological repercussion from this. He fought his fight and fell short not because of a bad performance on his part, but because of dos Santos’ ability and proficiency. Mir was able to attribute dos Santos’ W to the footwork and ability to leap in and out; by doing so, the challenger was able to contextualize the loss and learn what needs to be done to improve. This is a fantastic antidote to negative emotions which might affect an athlete after a loss. In addition to this, Mir is a mentally solid athlete in nature, which clearly helps too.

Junior dos Santos: Mind Power-Up – Frank Mir: Mind Power-Up

Co-Main Event

Velasquez needed this W, not to protect his job of course, that is solid at this stage, but more to be “in the mix.” We feel that Velasquez was on a line to one side of which there was a possible title shot and on the other side of the line there was slipping back to a position where he would have had to fight two or even three times before he could get the opportunity to win the belt. Cain did not only win, but he walked over Silva at UFC 146 and his already solid confidence, self-belief, and determination grew in a massive way. Velasquez is the kind of athlete that performs particularly well when he smells that the prey is close and this W took him a lot closer to what he wants to be his next prey.