Jack Hermansson is riding a wave of momentum following the biggest win of his mixed martial arts career, but it wasn’t always peachy.
In the main event of UFC Fort Lauderdale, Hermansson went one-on-one with Jacare Souza. “The Joker” was an underdog going into the bout, but he spoiled Souza’s plan to move on to a middleweight title bout. Hermansson won the bout via unanimous decision.
Hermansson Details Benefits Of Mental Coaching
Hermansson spoke to Bloody Elbow and admitted that he struggled with mental issues going into his bouts. That changed when he underwent mental coaching:
“I had confidence in my skills, but I was thinking about the sport like, ‘Even if I am so much better than my opponent, I can hit him 99 times, but if he hit me once, it can be over.’ And that lack of control, I felt like it doesn’t matter how much I prepare. It’s always gonna be a big chance that anybody can hit me on the chin and I’m going away, and that scared me and made me very, very nervous before my fights. I didn’t feel any connection to my body. It was very, very bad. Before the UFC, I had a couple fights where I felt like I could barely stand on my feet. Then, after that, I was so afraid that feeling was gonna come back to me. Before a fight, I was like, ‘Is it gonna happen this time? Is it gonna happen this time?’ That was in my mind all the time.”
“You can see there is a big difference. I’m very, very confident that I’m going to go into a fight now without a mental breakdown, and that helps me to be able to perform closer to my abilities.”
With the win over Souza, Hermansson shot up to the fifth spot in the UFC middleweight rankings. He is riding a four-fight winning streak.
