Having ballsed-up many a fight and competition thanks to fight nerves and adrenaline, one of the things I would highly recommend to anyone else who suffers with pre-fight nerves is to have a ‘go to’ technique.

There’s great potential to freeze and morph into the proverbial rabbit-in-head-lights if you get too nervous.

That’s why I’d recommend establishing and practicing a go-to combination or technique like a jab and an inside leg kick.

Hopefully it will never happen, but if it’s you’re first fight, there’s a chance  your mind will go blank and you’ll be unable to mentally run through your itinerary of techniques and subconsciously pick out the best one – as you would in training.

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In fact, I’d extent this to 2 ‘go-to’ stand up combos, and 1 go-to technique when you’re against the ropes/cage and covering up – you know, when it’s impossible to see or think anything, it’s important to automatically fall into a technique that you’re familiar with.

Again, I’d suggest familarising yourself with Bruce Lee’s 5 ways of attack, and picking a technique that’s an indirect attack, and a combination for when you’re in normal boxing range.  Bruce Lee & Anderson Silva (pictured above) was/is big fans of ‘drawing’ opponents, but this normally requires a more relaxed and confident mindset.

See my other blog post on pre-fight nerves for some more tips