1. Heart
You have it or you don’t. You cannot teach someone to have heart, but they can re -learn or re kindle a once burning fire. Once a fighter digs deep and wins a hard-fought war, they know what he or she is capable of. Johnny Hendricks and Anthony Pettis seem to be coasting when the going gets tough. Not to take away from the performance of Rafael dos Anjos and that orbital breaking punch, but Pettis had to be aware he was down in the championship rounds and never looked like he knew he needed, or wanted a finish. The last time he had to dig deep was almost five years ago against Benson Henderson. He has heart, he just has not had to use it in a while. Johnny Hendricks is going back to his roots, or at least he thinks he is. The fights he used his wrestling in were all split decisions, not all in his favor. Koscheck, Pierce and the the second time around with Lawler being great examples. His real roots are his hands. With an amazing takedown defense, and Oklahoma thunder in his fists, he was on a Chuck Liddell like streak to earn a shot at the title. Heart is not grinding out decisions, or counter punching, it is loving what you do and giving your all to finish and not be finished every time. Thank you fighters like Cowboy, and The Immortal.
