Any bad feelings after a fight?

[Fight with attitude]

I fought tonight in my first MMA match. When I looked at who I was fighting I knew I had to kept the match standing up because he was great on the ground. So for a week leading up to the fight I kept on saying to myself and everyone else who I talked to about the fight that it was going to end in a KO. Everytime I said that it pumped me up a little more for the fight.

As we were face to face right before the fight started I was still pumped about trying to go for the KO.

Right from the bell I was head hunting for the KO I've been envisoning for the weeks before (in hindsight, I knew I should have broken the guy down first but thats not my point in this post). I drilled him good with a few shots in the first round and opened some cuts on him. I was still feeling pumped about the KO. In a minute into the second round I saw a great opening, he rushed into me with a jab as he was doing that I got a hard counter punch. I heard him make this awful sound and saw his eyes close as he fell like a stick to the mat.

I couldn't believe what just happened, I stood there, not going on top of him and not going to my corner just in total shock that I did this.

He was out cold for maybe 5-10 seconds which felt like hours, I was so worried that I seriously hurt him. After these few seconds I saw him twiching his arms and hands, now I was really getting worried.

After taking a minute to get up, he shook my hand and said good fight. After coming home and thinking about this I still feel really bad about how this could have easily be worst.

Just the fact of seeing him out cold and twiching was enough for me to reconsider the morals of sport fighting.

Has anyone gone throu the same feelings as me? and also for the fighters out there, what do you feel after knocking someone out?

 

[Makalakumu]

First of all, congratulations on your win!

Secondly, I think its normal to feel what you are feeling. I've knocked a few people out sparring in full contact tournaments and I've choked uki out on a few occasions. This was all on purpose, but I still felt bad and its part of the reason I don't compete anymore.

I think that everyone feels this way, but the ones who continue are the ones to become desensitized to this. Or they let the rush of the fight overcome any other emotion. So, I guess my advice is to go and do another match and see how you feel.

It really helped me to get beat in my first match... That way, I wanted to come back and win the next one.

 

[Eternal Beginner]

Congrats on the win! I didn't know there were any fights in Winnipeg last night so I'm sad we missed them.

I think it is normal to feel a little bad when you knock someone out but you have to remember if this guy entered the ring under that rule set, he accepted that being knocked out was a potential outcome - as did you.

I don't think he would be beating himself up right now if he had knocked you out, do you?

Glad to see you are back at MA again.

 

[Fight with attitude]

Thanks for the congratations! I fought on a card where it was all exhibition matches so this card didn't have that much hype as others do. As a result it was mostly friends and family of the fighters who heard of the card and came to the show. I thought it would be better to have my first fight as a exhibition because it would be the stress of a real fight that I have to deal with instead of dealing with both the stress of a real fight and a loss on my record.

Another reason I think I might be feeling bad about this whole KO is because as soon as I got to a phone I called my girlfriend and family, both were a little uneasy about me knocking someone out. Both didn't want to come to the show either because they didn't want to see me get hurt and they didn't want to see me hurt someone else.

I just wish they could have see both of us after the fight, we watched the fight and I would point out the times he could have taken me down and he pointed out how I could have landed more shots. We were trying to help each others MMA game while still covered in blood and sweat. After we both got cleaned up we went out for pizza and talk about the fight some more. It's funny how you can feel so much closer to someone after a fight but I don't think my girlfriend or family will ever truely understand it since they don't want to see me or hear about me fighting.

 

[Eternal Beginner]

I just wish they could have see both of us after the fight, we watched the fight and I would point out the times he could have taken me down and he pointed out how I could have landed more shots. We were trying to help each others MMA game while still covered in blood and sweat. After we both got cleaned up we went out for pizza and talk about the fight some more. It's funny how you can feel so much closer to someone after a fight but I don't think my girlfriend or family will ever truely understand it since they don't want to see me or hear about me fighting.

Well, after hearing the above, I think you have answered your own question. Do you really feel what you did was immoral now? Did you do it with malice and intention to hurt? Or did you do it as a test of your skills and with sincerity of intent to provide your opponent with a good challenge to his skills?

Sounds like you did your best, you behaved like a gentleman after the fight and there were no hard feelings. So double congrats - on the win and on being a decent, compassionate competitor.

On a side note, I understand your girlfriend's feelings about not wanting to watch you. I have some VERY good friends who are professional MMA fighters and every time I watch them my heart goes up into my throat and stays there until I am able to talk to them after and make sure they are okay. Don't push her to watch you. A lot of the partners of MMA fighters do not watch the shows, it is just too intense for them.

 

[rutherford]

I think that everyone feels this way, but the ones who continue are the ones to become desensitized to this.

It would be a mistake to hold such an assumption, because it might make you hesitate when you life or another's depends on action.

Many people were desensitized to violence early in life, don't have the wiring to empathize with others, or even just plain enjoy hurting people.

Congratulations on the win, Fight with attitude. And don't feel bad if you never get desensitized to this sort of violence. In my honest opinion, not feeling good about knocking somebody out makes you a better person. But I also think it's good that you know you can do it.

 

[Cujo]

Congrats on the win! I KNOW that it is normal to feel the way that you do. The first time I knocked someone out in a full contact match my first instinct was to go running over and make sure that they were o.k. You both accepted the risk of entering the ring, enjoy your victory!
Pax
Cujo

 

[bladenosh]

Regret is a terrible thing to have when you are in a fast action situation. Regret clouds your mind with worthless thoughts. Like an undefragmented computer, useful information is slowed to yield these unimportant thoughts. What benefit is it to you to feel bad after every knockout? Just the same for feeling good after each one. You should expect it. It is a good thing to not want to intentionally harm a human being who has not personally wronged you, but this is a competition, you both know the rules and consequences. I would not dwell on these regrets, if you wish to be successful.