Brilliant technique and tactics only hold up as long as discipline does. The first drain on a fighter’s discipline is fatigue – there aren’t many other endurance sports with so many strategic considerations – but the second test of discipline is being hurt. It is frightening to feel that pain, but more importantly it throws a fighter back to his instincts. Fight or flight. Some will run wildly around the cage or ring and others will bite down on their mouthpiece and start lashing out like a wounded tiger.
