Skill-Induced Inhibition
Being better isn't always better
Longtime spectators of combat sports have heard the phrase “you gotta let your hands go” countless times by now, and though it can feel like a cliche, it is the most important piece of advice to give a fighter.
In an era where analytics run sports, it is easy to forget the fundamental premise of the game: you gotta swing the bat, you gotta shoot the ball, you gotta let your hands go. These concepts are so basic and foundational that they go both unsaid and unremembered, especially amongst the most skilled athletes.
I am hereby coining a term that I call “skill-based inhibition”. It is one I am certain is already known, but perhaps not by that name. The phenomenon it describes is one where an athlete (in this case a fighter) becomes paralyzed by his/her own abilities and performs below their own level as a result.
On Thursday, June 19th in Tokyo, Christian Araneta lost a 12-round split decision to Thanongsak Simsri in a contest for the light flyweight (108lbs) IBF world title. Araneta was the better boxer of the two, and he dropped Simsri in the 3rd round of what seemed to be a one-sided fight. But he spent too much time looking for the perfect shot, all the while Simsri was throwing a mountain of imperfect shots and winning rounds. Simsri, despite being a worse technical fighter (or perhaps because he’s worse technically), won the decision.
That same night in Tokyo, WBO welterweight (147lbs) champion Brian Norman Jr took on feared prospect Jin Sasaki. Norman had zero inhibition in that fight and had a gameplan of countering every attack Sasaki threw. In this case, Norman was able to use his superior skill to remain calm under fire and trust himself not to get caught by one of Sasaki’s big punches. In this case, there was no skill-based inhibition and the results speak for themselves.
This phenomenon is not limited to boxing though, and there were a few good examples of skill-based inhibition this week in MMA too.
Take Jake Hadley, the former UFC and current PFL fighter. Hadley is a skilled technician who has mastered every aspect of mixed martial arts. Hadley is so well-rounded that even though he has no real technical weaknesses, he often looks like he can’t choose which skill to display. He gets stuck in the mud while a technically inferior opponent goes to work. This happened against Cameron Smotherman in the UFC and once more on Friday, June 20th against Marcirley Alves. Alves beat Hadley to a pulp and will advance to the PFL bantamweight finals, while Hadley will return to the drawing board.
Now, on to the UFC. On Saturday, the UFC went to Baku in Azerbaijan and had what was ultimately a pretty bad event. In the co-main event, two of the most exciting lightweights, Rafael Fiziev and Ignacio Bahamondes, put on one of the most boring fights of the night. Fiziev did what he had to do by landing the cleaner shots throughout the fight, and it was on Bahamondes to change the complexion of the match. He never did this; Bahamondes has perhaps the single best 1-2 in the lightweight division, and paired with his long reach and tall frame, that alone can get him through most fights. But in this fight, he elected to throw a bunch of spinning kicks against a guy who literally made a name on avoiding kicks (seriously, watch this) and to shoot a bunch of takedowns against a guy with a 90 percent takedown defense rate. Bahamondes thought too much and tried to do too much when the best path to victory would have been the simplest. Just punch.
Sometimes you just have to punch, something Jamahal Hill neglected to do in his main event slot against Khalil Rountree Jr. Hill and Rountree were both coming off exciting KO losses where they accounted themselves well, and the fight was pretty even on paper. However, the sight of a tubby Jamahal Hill flabbing his way across the Octagon made me question his chances, especially compared to the fatless physique of Rountree. Hill has a long reach and typically has great volume, but this night was different. Rountree fought a great fight where he would stand basically still before exploding with a punch or a kick here and there. It wasn’t exciting, but it was effective and forced Hill into questioning every attack he threw. Hill is slower and less technically polished, so he really needed to get in there and just punch, but he never could. A defender of his might say “he was getting countered and Rountree was battering his leg”, and while this is true, it does not matter. Hill managed to last the 5 rounds and hear the judges’ scorecards, he managed to walk out of the arena on his own 2 feet, so it was clear he had something left to give… something he didn’t give.
Sometimes even when uninhibited, it’s not enough, and that’s ok. Take Nikolas Motta, who also fought on the Baku card. He was a big underdog against the home favorite Nazim Sadykhov, but he fought like Sadykhov insulted his mother. Motta came out guns blazing and badly hurt Sadykhov with a 70-punch combination (seriously), dropping him briefly in the opening round. Sadykhov managed to weather the storm and ended round 1 launching his own attack. In round 2, the 2 fighters just decided to trade blows until someone fell down. Every punch visibly hurt, but both guys ignored the pain for as long as they could. Late in the 2nd, Sadykhov landed an elbow that knocked Motta out completely cold. Sadykhov may have won, but he won’t be forgetting the name Nikolas Motta any time soon.
More importantly, we won’t be forgetting the name Nikolas Motta any time soon. He fought without inhibition, and though it wasn’t enough to get the win, it was enough to get him and Sadykhov a performance and fight of the night bonus each. That means that though his record left the arena poorer, he left it $100,000 richer, simply because he let his hands go.