Earlier this month, it was announced that possibly one of the biggest spectacles in combat sports would be taking place on August 26 of this year. The long, anticipated boxing bout between UFC lightweight champion “The Notorious” Connor McGregor and 49-0 boxing legend Floyd “Money” Mayweather. Both men are arguably the two biggest personalities in their sports and after over a year of online feuds, the two fighters will finally step into the boxing ring in what is likely to be the highest grossing paper view event of all time.
Sometime after the fight was announced, I was scrolling through social media when I came across an image of Connor McGregor standing in a boxing ring at his personal gym. On the wall behind him was a massive mural of him knocking out Mayweather. Now, most people attribute something so bold to Connor’s alleged ego but when I look at that photo the one thing that constantly comes to my mind is the true power of positive visualization and how Connor McGregor has become a master of it.
Visualization is the technique that helps in developing skills related to your sport, as well as helps actualize success through constant repetitive imagery. What that means for a fighter is if your goal is to knock your opponent out then you had better constantly imagined yourself knocking out your opponent. The image and execution of success should always be present in your mind. For my own fights, I have done this and with great success. Before each of my last two wins, I imagined the exact fashion, I would win in, by taking my opponent to the ground, gaining mount position, and executing the ground and pound. Each time, that is exactly what happened.
Since the start of Connor McGregor’s career in the UFC, he has been one of the most vocal antagonists to ever set foot in the Octagon. Verbally pecking at opponents far more experienced in their UFC careers than he was at the time. He would go as far as to predict when and how he would finish his opponents and often he wasn’t far off in his prediction, earning him the secondary nickname “Mystic Mac”.
When Connor was scheduled to fight Jose Aldo, there were many including me who thought there was no chance he could prevail. Jose Aldo had defended his title for ten straight years. Without Jon Jones in the rankings, he was the number one pound for pound fighter in the world. How could someone like McGregor possibly hope to beat someone like Aldo? Well there are many factors that played into Connor’s victory such as Aldo’s age, declining chin resilience, as well as Connor’s legitimate skill level but you could strongly argue that another paramount factor in the fights 13 second KO finish was Connor’s ability to visualize his success against Jose, and then his ability to make Jose feel the confidence visualization like that brings.
Visualization is a powerful tool no doubt, but many would still argue that the mural on the gym wall is overkill and in poor taste. However, take a moment to consider Connor’s opponent. Floyd Mayweather has never been defeated in his professional career; a career in which he fought the best boxers in the world and claimed titles in multiple weight classes. Connor McGregor isn’t even a boxer, and in fact, many would say that his boxing isn’t even top ten caliber. So, it would make sense for Connor to have to go to great lengths to reinforce his goals. It’s hard to ignore a massive image of you knocking out your opponent every time you set foot in the gym and if that doesn’t reinforce your power of belief. Then I don’t know what will.
Connor McGregor will face Floyd Mayweather on August 26 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
