“He wants to get in close to use that reach advantage.” – Mike Goldberg :rofl :rofl :rofl
I don't really have much to bring to this debate, other than saying I never buy these theories about "boxing/mma is 50, 90, whatever percent mental" or "mental is more important than physical" etc etc etc. I just don't agree, don't buy it. JMHO. The mental game is important sure, but I personally don't attach the importance to it that so many others do. You're either confident or you're not, if you are you have a better chance of winning, if you're not you have a better chance of losing. I don't see much more to it than that to be honest. It very much pales in comparison to the physical, but the physical is not the most important fact either, skills/technique/application is the most important thing in boxing and MMA IMO.
It's where the skill level and physical attributes are fairly closely matched that the mental edge becomes most significant. In many team sports the players and teams are often fairly evenly matched, and it's the team that comes in better mentally prepared that usually wins. There's a lot to be said for a good gameplan too.