Valuable Life Lessons We Can Learn From The UFC 217 Upsets
I’m not a betting man but like many, I was caught up in the hype of Mayweather Vs McGregor fight. I ended up betting quite a bit of money on McGregor and the experience ended up costing me dearly. In my heart, I knew McGregor didn't stand a chance but I’m a huge advocate of the Law of Attraction and visualisation. Unfortunately for me I neither visualised the right result nor did I attract it.
So, even though I was confident of my predictions for UFC 217 I wasn’t prepared to put money on it. I correctly predicted all three of the main cards. Unfortunately, or fortunately, in my case, I didn’t stay up until the early hours to watch the event. I was disappointed to find out that I couldn’t buy the PPV event as it was on BT Sport. Unlike Sky Sports who show their events for approximately £20, BT offered no such package. When I inquired the only option they offered was a full months subscription for £25 and an activation fee of £30 - £55 to watch a few hours of MMA fights. No wonder so many people streamed the event online for free. I chose to wake up fresh and dandy after a good nights sleep and watch all three fights on YouTube and saved myself £55 in the process. Fuck You BT!!
Joanna Jedrzejczyk v Rose Namajunas came up first. I just felt Jedrzejczyk was trying to be someone she’s not. A fake Ronda Rousey if you like. It’s becoming an all too common scenario in the UFC. Fighters have seen the rise of the likes of McGregor and Rousey and attempt to follow in their footsteps as they envisage it will hype up the fight and lead to more pay per views, of which It can to an extent, although it can also come back to bite you on the arse like it did Jedrzejczyk in spectacular fashion.
Tapping out to an onslaught of punches by Namajunas. That’s a first in the history of the UFC. In my opinion certainly not a sign of a true champion. Namjunas was calm and collected in the lead up to the fight even after having a fist put in her face at the weigh-in. She composed herself all throughout which ultimately paid dividends as she was crowned the UFC strawweight Champion.
Next up was Cody Garbrandt Vs TJ Dillashaw. This was the easiest bout to predict. Cody showed far too much emotion in the build-up to the fight. This was evident in the fight right from the off. There was obviously bad blood between the pair from when they trained together at Alpha Male before TJ broke ranks and chooses to leave. TJ appeared calm and collective even after being caught with a counter right hand at the end of the opening round. TJ came into the second round composed and focused and showed Garbrendt what he had in his arsenal which ultimately proved too much for Garbrandt giving Dillashaw a win by knockout.
Can you see the common theme here?
The main card of the night was Micheal Bisping Vs George St Perrie. This was harder to call as St Pierre has had such a lay off. That said I don’t rate Bisping as a Champion. He is a great fighter don’t get me wrong but he falls short of Champion status in my eyes which was evident on the night. Bad mouthing opponents is part of Bisping's repertoire. But once again that came back to land him in big trouble when faced with a calm and collected St Pierre. George said in the build-up that he will do his talking in the octagon and he did it in true Champion fashion choking out a battered and tired Bisping.
Three amazing fights and three huge upsets. But the thing to highlight here is that the upsets were all delivered by fighters who represented the utmost professionalism and composure. They listened to the barrage of abuse and insults and focused on the job at hand. They reflected criticism and negativity and went on to fulfill their desired outcome and goal. They provided us with lessons we can all learn from and use in our everyday life be it in our social environment or workplace.
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