There is no denying that mixed martial arts, like most sports, is a physical endeavour. An arduous one at that.
But if you ask UFC middleweight Dylan ‘The Villain’ Andrews, it’s the mental game that can spell the difference between winning and losing.
“Some people say [the mental game is] 30 per cent. I’m probably 90-95 per cent, it’s huge,” the Gold Coast resident said.
“You can absolutely lose everything in a fight if you lose it in your head. The best person in the world can lose it in their head so it’s everything.”
A winning mindset is what Andrews will need to arm himself with in the Octagon as he takes on Sam Alvey at UFC Fight Night: Rockhold versus Bisping on November 8 at the Allphones Arena.
Before he laces up the gloves in Sydney, however, Andrews has taken steps to ensure that no stone is left unturned in his mental preparation.
“I’m working with a mind coach at the moment,” he said.
“I’ve been working on these things that need to be programmed in my head and things I’m going to do. I just have to focus because it’s a big part of training, fighting and being a professional athlete so I just wanted to call someone in to help me with that.”
In his last fight, Andrews suffered a loss against his former The Ultimate Fighter teammate Clint Hester last December in Brisbane. The bout was stopped when Andrews suffered a dislocated shoulder. Incidentally, the two fighters are also good friends outside the cage.
“I tried to put [the friendship] in the back of my head,” he reflected.
“Once I looked back after the fight there were some things that I could’ve and should’ve done that I think I didn’t do because I had that in my head. It’s obviously taking no credit away from what [Hester] did. He did what he needed to do and I could’ve just pulled the trigger a bit more.”
The injury left Andrews on the sidelines for most of 2014. True to form, the 34-year-old looked to the brighter side of things.
“There are ups and downs of this injury,” he said.
“Obviously, the down is the injury and the ups are that I got to spend a lot of time thinking about things I needed to change and do. I’ve been working on that [during my time off].”
In Sam Alvey, Andrews will be up against a veteran of 29 contests.
“Sam Alvey, from what I’ve seen, is a super tough dude,” he offered.
“Good southpaw and counter striker, comes forward when he wants to, so he’s tough and hard to put away. He’s going to hang in there so it’s going to be a good fight.”
A loss against Alvey could potentially place Andrews on the UFC’s chopping block, but you won’t hear that kind of talk coming from him.
“I’m not thinking about it, I’m not worried about it,” he said.
“I can’t determine what happens with that. It’s not on my mind. [My mindset] is just win, win, win.”
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