Why do UFC Fighters stare down before a bout?

When it comes to MMA fights, it’s not too uncommon to see fighters staring each other down beforehand. The staredown either takes place before the fight during a weigh in ceremony or seconds before a fight when the two square up together in the cage. Basically, whenever there’s an opportunity for two fighters to look each other in the eyes, there’s always the opportunity for a stare down.

Of course, stare downs don’t always take place either. If two fighters are on good terms with each other then there’s no need to stare at each other. Obviously, initiating a stare down is an act of aggression, so it’s not always necessary. In one bizarre case, UFC fighter Sean O’Connell gave his opponent Ilir Latifi flowers at one weigh in ceremony. Sadly for O’Connell, he would go on to get knocked out.

Origins of the stare down

Before MMA, the stare down featured prominently in boxing which is understandable. Like MMA, boxing is also big on pre-fight antics and knows all about the show business side of hyping up events.

In fact, you could argue that MMA has taken a lot of the promotional parts from boxing and used them to self-promote. This makes sense, considering there’s a lot of money in boxing and the promotional side of things is done very well. Aside from promotion, boxing also has a lot in common with MMA and also includes two fighters going at it. So, it’s quite common sense that boxing also features stare downs.

At the same time, this is only looking at recent history. As combat sports are not a new phenomenon, it’s a fair assumption that the stare down has been used for centuries and may have even been used in ancient sports such as pankration. To summarize, the origins of the stare down aren’t known – but you can guarantee it’s been a thing for many years.

Reasons why MMA fighters stare down their opponents

Fighter psychology

To understand why fighter’s sometimes stare at each other, you’ll need to understand the psychology of the individual fighter. In most cases, staring down the opponent means aggression. In short, it shows a lack of fear and complete belief in your ability to win. As staring is quite an intimate act, it basically implies that you’re looking deep into the soul of the opponent to see if they’re truly ready to fight.

However, some argue that sometimes a fighter may do this out of fear too. In some cases, a stare down may be done out of awkwardness and is a potential sign of your bark being louder than your bite. There are examples of this and sometimes it can go the other way. Famously, before his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor began to stare him down. Khabib barely moved and for a split second, McGregor looked down. This showed the true intentions of either fighter, if only for a brief amount of time.

Mind games before the fight

Talking of McGregor, he’s not always been on the bad end of stare downs. In fact, there was a time when he was dubbed a master of mind games. For instance, he once locked Jose Aldo in a room in a build up to their fight, alongside stealing his title belt.

Anyway, one of McGregor’s biggest skills was his stare downs. Although he failed with this against Khabib, often it worked in the Irishman’s favor. For instance, after their second fight, Dustin Poirier explained to Joe Rogan that he felt significantly more relaxed against McGregor compared to their first outing. The reason for this was that McGregor was treating him much nicer. Instead of a stare down, there was a handshake and a charity donation.

This is a great example of how stare downs and mind games can affect even the most professional of fighters. It doesn’t matter how good you are, if your psyche is weak going into a fight then an aggressive stare down can put you on edge. If this gives someone an extra percent of winning a fight, then it’s well worth pursuing seeing as it takes a couple of seconds to pull off.

Pre-fight Promotion

In many cases, pre-fight promotions often encourage a stare down as fans love it. This doesn’t just happen in MMA, it also happens in the likes of boxing and Muay Thai too. In brief, some promoters will try to stir up trash talk and tension before a fight to sell more tickets. Obviously, more viewers are likely to buy tickets or tune in if the fight is supposedly personal.

Having said this, in most cases – it’s just posturing and nothing more. On a similar note, many fighters will embrace each other after their fight and show that the pre-fight antics were nothing more than promotional trash talk. Sometimes, a pre-fight stare down will almost feel too forced at times and as a viewer, you can tell it’s compulsory as both fighters raise their fists and do a quick stare as if it’s been forced upon them.

At the same time, some smarter fighters will indulge in these mind games and use them as an opportunity to promote themselves, as well as the event. It doesn’t hurt your PR game to act outlandish or behave in a gimmicky way.

Reading the opponent

As touched upon earlier, sometimes you will stare down an opponent to read their behavior. This means the stare down is done from a place of strategy, rather than pure aggression. An example of this is if the opposing fighter looks down, smiles, or looks elsewhere. These are all acts of passive behavior that can be taken advantage of.

This behavior means that you can potentially beat them by fear and aggression – and you know that whatever happens in the fight, you will have the mental edge on them. In other words, if someone is too soft then they’re probably easier to defeat physically, as well as mentally. Although not always the case – this is something that can be learned by reading the psychology of the opponent. Remember though, it’s just a stare down and still may not impact the fight in a significant way.

Does the stare down effect the outcome of a fight?

Returning to the McGregor Vs. Poirier example, you could argue that stare downs are barely relevant when looking at the bigger picture. In the trilogy fight, McGregor must have heard of Porier’s comments and upped his behavior yet again. Beforehand, he even spoke about killing Poirier in the cage and initiated a stare down. Regardless, Poirier defeated McGregor with relative ease and spoke about how McGregor’s behavior had inspired him to defeat his opponent.

Basically, if you have a fighter who is significantly better than their opponent then in reality, a stare down probably won’t change much. However, if it happens when two are very closely matched, then it certainly doesn’t hurt to do – as it could possibly give you the mental edge. On a similar note, some people are just simply not bothered when it comes to stare downs and will not be affected by them, no matter how aggressive or intimidating they seem on the outside.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article has shown the significance of the stare down in UFC and MMA. What’s worth noting is that from day one in fights, stare downs have taken place and will continue to do so forever as they are a part of MMA culture.

Whether done for intimidation or out of your own nervous energy – stare downs will always be a thing. As also looked at, stare downs don’t always work and may not have the desired effect that is intended. On a final note, whatever your thoughts on stare downs, it’s fair to say that they are at least entertaining!