GAME PLAN

“Everyone has a plan until they’ve been hit”

Many people like to credit Mike Tyson with this quote but it was actually the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis, who originally uttered those words. They were as true then as they are today, and can be applied to everything in life. We all have plans, ways we want things to go, and as long as everything’s going well then it’s easy to stay on track. But, as any fighter will tell you, as soon as you take that first hard shot, game plans tend to fly out the window.

Some fighters like to go in with a set game plan for their opponents, others just go in there and just fight, and that is their game plan. Personally I just like to go in there and fight. Depending on my opponent, I may pick a few specific things that I want to do or know that I need to watch out for but for the most part my game plan is always the same, go forward, stay in their face, break their will, never quit. I try not to worry too much about what my opponent is going to do and focus more on what I’m going to do. I can adjust as the fight goes on if I need to. But just like anything some people will have a lot more success when they have a specific plan of attack for them to stick to, it all just depends the fighter. 

I often have people say to me, “You should really take your fights off of the internet, people are going to be able to see how you fight and figure you out.” I always laugh at this for a few reasons. One, every top fighter in the world has tons of easily accessible fight footage that any opponent can study, does this make them any easier to beat? I hope people study old fights of me and go in there expecting that fighter. If I fight the same as I did in a previous fight then that means I am not improving. So please, study my fights, figure me out, and come to the fight expecting the past model of me. At the same time I want people to figure my flaws out and take advantage of them, that way I can see what I need to change. I never really look at too much footage of my opponents. There are always one or two things I’ll pick out to keep an eye on but for the most part I prefer not to even think about them. What happens if you study someone to a science and then you get in there and they fight completely different? I feel that you need to be able to adjust to whatever happens. What if you train for a specific fighter for two months and then end up having to fight someone else at the last minute, it will completely throw you off. 

I am not saying game plans are pointless, there are plenty of fighters that go in there and game plan someone out to a T and easily beat them. I’m just saying for me I prefer to just focus on what I’m going to do, I can adjust as the fight goes on. 

I think the main thing you need to look at is what type of fighter are you. Do you have a Bovy style where you just go in there, take everything your opponent has and try and knock there spine out. Are you a slick ninja like Samart? I never like to tell anyone that something is wrong or right. If it works for you how can it be wrong. Look how many fighters do things ‘technically’ wrong and KO everyone. I find, like most things in fighting and life, it is all about finding the right balance that works for you.

 What are your thoughts, game plan or not?