“BECAUSE I’M THE F**KING GLADIATOR”-WISDOM OF ROSS POINTON

Journey back with me, dear reader, to a simpler time.  The year was 2006, I was still in my undergrad and had it in my head that I was one day going to be a fighter, and MMA was sweeping the nation.  “The Ultimate Fighter” was in its 3^rd season, heavily promoting the disastrous rematch between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, and though this, I was exposed to a wise philosopher.  His name was Ross Pointon, and his ring name was “The Gladiator”, and though his run on the show (and his career in turn) ended up being lackluster, there was still much wisdom to be gained from his words and deeds.

Get the wisdom now, before it leaks out of his head

To set the stage, for those of you that are not MMA fans, or weren’t at the time, Ross entered “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show with an ok record.  At the time, he was 4-6-0, with what could be best described as a “rudimentary” grappling game.  Of his 4 wins, 2 were by knockout, 1 was by submission to strikes, and 1 was an honest to god guillotine choke, whereas most of his 6 losses were due to submission.  He was a striker, and grappling was the chink in his armor, which of course meant he took after my own heart and I was rooting for him.  …and he lost his first fight on the show, which meant he was eliminated.  And, of course, he lost it via submission.

But Ross was not out for good.  The show had implemented a policy that eliminated fighters would still stay at the house; they were just done fighting.  That is, until, Michael Bisping, a fighter in the weight class ABOVE Ross, suddenly found himself without an opponent on the show.  I forget the exact circumstances that drove it, but essentially the fighter Bisping was supposed to fight in order to advance to the next round in the show had withdrawn.  “Well no problem”, the show’s producers thought, “We’ll just give one of the guys in Mike’s weight class who was previously defeated an opportunity to get back on the show.  If they beat Mike, they can advance.”  …and not a single fighter in Mike’s weight class took that opportunity.

Pretty much what it felt like

Once again, for those of you that don’t follow MMA, let me tell you about Michael Bisping.  Well, spoilers, he won his season of the Ultimate Fighter, and then went on to become one of the most dominant fighters in his division, to the point that he was still winning fights in 2016 and has capped out with a record of 30-9, with wins against the likes of Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson.  When he arrived on the show, he was undefeated, with a pro-record of 10-0.  Needless to say, there was a deserved amount of fear when it came to facing off against Michael Bisping, and contestants in his weight class that had already been defeated chose to stay defeated rather than even TRY to face off against him.

…until Ross Pointon stepped up.  Literally too, as he would be fighting up a weight class.  AND, against a guy who had already beaten him previously.  Mike and Ross were both Brits, and had fought before in their home country.  And Ross was lighter now, and clearly the inferior fighter.  So why did he step up?  “Because I’m the f**king gladiator”-his answer, when asked the same question.  Michael Bisping had submitted Ross by armbar in their previous fight, yet of his 10 wins, 7 were by knockout, meaning he was both a terrifying grappler AND striker.  And what was Ross’ gameplan for the fight?  “I’m going to mash his f**king face in.”  Once again, his words.  And these words were COMPLETELY unsatisfying to everyone else in the house.  They KNEW Ross had a subpar ground game, and though he was a scrapper, he was squaring off against a superior striker as well.  They kept asking him “what if” questions.  “But Ross, what if he takes you down to the mat?”  “I’m going to mash his f**king face in.”  “What if he keeps you on the outside?”  “’I’m going to mash his f**king face in.”  No matter how the battle turned, the strategy remained the same.  And why?  “Because I’m the f**king gladiator.”

Hey, it's worked before

It’s no surprise that Ross lost that fight, and, in point of fact, he’d only go on to win 2 of his next 12 fights before retiring.  He simply never evolved his style.  But we’re not here today to talk about how to be the best MMA fighter possible; we’re talking about having the right mentality, and Ross had that in spades.  How?  Because Ross refused to be defeated UNTIL he was defeated.  Everyone else in the weight class above Ross had quit before they even tried.  They were fighting for a 3 fight contract with the UFC, a DREAM for all those involved, and people gave up on it because of the prospect of being beaten.  How many people do you know that gave up on their goals and dreams because of the FEAR of failure, without ever actually EXPERIENCING that failure?  Ross knew that he at least had a CHANCE of winning if he fought, whereas not fighting would give him a 100% chance of losing.

And Ross’ gameplan further exemplifies an incredibly amazing personal philosophy.  Yeah, it’s easy to sit in the comfort of your home and say it was an awful gameplan…but what gameplan SHOULD Ross have used?  Was he going to outgrapple Mike?  No.  Was he going to be the more technically proficient striker?  No.  What tools did Ross have?  Aggression.  And knowing that, why worry about the things that he CAN’T do?  Everyone else was so focused on how Ross COULDN’T overcome Mike’s submission skills, on how he COULDN’T beat his technique on his feet, etc etc…and what the hell good does that do?  Ross, instead, chose to focus on what he COULD do.  His focus was on how he was going to SUCCEED, NOT on how he was going to not fail.

If you're going to fail, succeed at it

Think about how often you observe this in training.  How many times do you see a trainee that, before they even START a program, begin to freak out about failing.  They ask what to do if they stall, how do they bail from a botched squat or bench press, what do they do if they get injured, etc etc.  Give it the Pointon answer: “I’m going to mash [it’s] f**king face in.”  Gear up your mentality so that they only thing you concern yourself with is your WINNING gameplan, not your “not losing” gameplan.  Enter the Octagon with victory being your only concern, and be game enough to take on the challenges WHEN they present themselves.  Because challenges are simply opportunities, and they won’t always be there.  And if you won’t step up to take these opportunities, someone else will.  And they’ll be in the weight class below you, and they’ll have a terrible gameplan, and they’ll fail brilliantly, but goddamnit, at least they TRIED.

And on that note, allow me to give you a little Cinderalla story about Ross, because he may have lost the fight against Bisping on the show, and he may have lost his opportunity for a 3 fight contract with the UFC…but the UFC DID give him 2 more fights immediately after that.  Because they admired his spirit, and that he was willing to step up when no one else would.  Fate favors those who dare.