has ever a fighter ever faked being unconfident?

[Dionysian]

Let me explain... let's take Anderson Silva when he was MW king as an example.

Mentality #1: A bunch of contenders fighting him looked unconfident going in there, saying it was just an honor to share the cage with him blah blah blah. Their performances reflected them being deer in the headlights as he styled on them.

Mentality #2: Weidman didn't re-negotiate with the UFC prior to getting a title shot even though it was a guaranteed pay raise... he said he'd only renegotiate with them after fighting Anderson (which was the last fight on Weidman's contract). So basically he was so certain of victory that he bet his livelihood on it. He projected absolute confidence every step of the way.

We saw a similar pattern to Pena vs Nunes recently... Pena had mentality #2 as if she knew a secret that it was just a matter of time, something Amanda's other opponents didn't portray.

My question is if there has ever been an instance of a fighter with mentality #2 that intentionally displayed a mentality #1 solely for the sake of psychological warfare? In other words, act extremely timid and deferential to a champ as if you are expecting to die, then once the cage closes be overly aggressive/confident/assertive as soon as the fight starts.

If it has never been done before... do you think it could throw a champ off mentally if someone was to intentionally switch gears like that? Make them think they are in for an easy night in the lead up, only to charge forward on fight night with a confident smirk like you know it's over for them?

 

[BangBang]

Yes?

 

[IloveTHIS]

Anderson did everything possible to try and duck Weidman.

I know that doesn't answer your question. Just felt like reminding Anderson fans.

 

[Dionysian]

Yes?

Who/when?

 

[Dionysian]

Anderson did everything possible to try and duck Weidman.

I know that doesn't answer your question. Just felt like reminding Anderson fans.

Yeah. Long before all the tried and true bullshit justifications of "he doesn't move the needle" and "does it make sense in terms of rankings" and paychecks and everything other glorified form of ducking talking point we have to endure nowadays... that fight was ahead of its time. Anderson's team discredited Weidman for months on end in efforts to ensure he didn't get a title shot, despite the division being a ghost town and an undefeated Chris coming off a flawless finish against a top 5 guy in his last fight.

 

[JustOnce]

Anderson did everything possible to try and duck Weidman.

I know that doesn't answer your question. Just felt like reminding Anderson fans.

I mean, it was as embarrasing as it gets, ducking was so evident, then getting ktfo like that after clowning?

 

[Bronson]

Hmm, I’ll have to go back and check later but I don’t recall Jones being overtly outspoken or brash prior to winning the title from Shogun. But then the fight happened….

 

[IloveTHIS]

I mean, it was as embarrasing as it gets, ducking was so evident, then getting ktfo like that after clowning?

there is still to this day a HUGE amount of posters on here that will argue with you for hours, insisting not just the first but BOTH fights were "flukes"

talking to people like them has taught me that all people are in fact NOT equal. some are just smarter than others and not everyones opinion is important

 

[Dionysian]

I mean, it was as embarrasing as it gets, ducking was so evident, then getting ktfo like that after clowning?

lol... uh oh... I'm a Chris fan and all but I hope this thread doesn't get derailed... it isn't about Anderson, I just used him as an example of a champ that had a lot of contenders acting timid/broken before the fight and it got me thinking if anyone faked that demeanor as a form of psychological warfare.

Hmm, I’ll have to go back and check later but I don’t recall Jones being overtly outspoken or brash prior to winning the title from Shogun. But then the fight happened….

Don't think so man, Jon was pretty confident and Shogun was an underdog for that fight.

 

[JustOnce]

there is still to this day a HUGE amount of posters on here that will argue with you for hours, insisting not just the first but BOTH fights were "flukes"

talking to people like them has taught me that all people are in fact NOT equal. some are just smarter than others and not everyones opinion is important

Toughest match up on paper who the fighter was ducking and only had guts to face him when that guy was coming off a lay off longer than a year due to surgery = two losses = flukes

Takes some special IQ to try to argue those were flukes.

 

[JustOnce]

lol... uh oh... I'm a Chris fan and all but I hope this thread doesn't get derailed... it isn't about Anderson, I just used him as an example of a champ that had a lot of contenders acting timid/broken before the fight and it got me thinking if anyone faked that demeanor as a form of psychological warfare.


Don't think so man, Jon was pretty confident and Shogun was an underdog for that fight.

I don't remember any of his opponents acting broken before fights. Yes he did look pretty good, but his invincibility aura wasn't as strong as Fedor's.

 

[TheMessiah]

I mean, it was as embarrasing as it gets, ducking was so evident, then getting ktfo like that after clowning?

And now Chris is completely finished while Anderson is beating former boxing world champs.

 

[JustOnce]

And now Chris is completely finished while Anderson is beating former boxing world champs.

That was impressive, but you talking about completely finished, you can't not mention Chavez jr.

 

[BangBang]

Who/when?

I want to say Till Vs Masvidal/Wonderboy but he often admits his anxieties.....dunno

 

[Dionysian]

I don't remember any of his opponents acting broken before fights. Yes he did look pretty good, but his invincibility aura wasn't as strong as Fedor's.

Forrest, Vitor, and Okami all acted deferential like they didn't deserve to be in there with him. That's off the top of my head but it happens a lot when it comes to dominant champs. Half of Amanda's opponents since she became champ probably fit into that category. Val too.

I don't think anyone has ever done that and THEN switched to act like a Weidman or Pena once the door closes. If they did, I can't imagine how it would NOT fuck with the betting favorite's/champ's head a bit. I would love to see a fighter try doing it when they're the underdog.

 

[TheMessiah]

That was impressive, but you talking about completely finished, you can't not mention Chavez jr.

Agree Chavez is finished but Anderson is also 46

 

[2004 account]

Monkey king

 

[sadowolf]

It's actually a pretty interesting question. I can think of examples where fighters went into the fight very respectful and humble, but showed more forward confidence in the fight, but not any where they looked flat-out unconfident and hit a 180 come fight time.

I think part of that might just be because fighters are in actuality a pretty damn sensitive bunch and most care more than they let on about how they come off. In an environment where being confident is such a boon and having borderline delusional self-confidence is almost a necessity to be great, it's hard to come across someone who is willing to portray the exact opposite of that, because that display of confidence ends up being sort of necessary. That's why when you normally see someone step into the cage looking like they've already lost, they pretty much already lost haha. My prime example of this is always Chris Cariaso; the man looked like he was on the green mile when he made the walk out to fight DJ haha.

 

[VinceArch]

Frankie was super respectful to BJ Penn but as soon as the fight started Frankie made BJ play his game. It wasn't mastered quite yet but Frankie never lost confidence from start to finish.

 

[JustOnce]

Forrest, Vitor, and Okami all acted deferential like they didn't deserve to be in there with him. That's off the top of my head but it happens a lot when it comes to dominant champs. Half of Amanda's opponents since she became champ probably fit into that category. Val too.

I don't think anyone has ever done that and THEN switched to act like a Weidman or Pena once the door closes. If they did, I can't imagine how it would NOT fuck with the betting favorite's/champ's head a bit. I would love to see a fighter try doing it when they're the underdog.

Vitor I don't think so, Griffin and Okami are both quite types, so I'm not sure. I don't think anyone pointed it out back then, I'm not sure it is what you think it is, but we'd never know.