What can be worse than a nightmare? Having a dream where everything in the world goes right and you're sitting on top of the world, only to wake up to reality and realize none of it has actually happened yet.
UFC heavyweight and The Fighter & The Kid podcast co-host Brendan Schaub described going through that type of dreammare leading up to fights on the latest episode. "I've had dreams before a fight, like the week of a fight, where in my dream I go through the warmup, the fight, and I win. I'm, like, with my friends and family afterwards. Then, I wake up, and it's just Tuesday," he recounted, with frustration.
All of the stress, anticipation and pressure on UFC fighters leading up to bouts is intense. For Schaub, the worst part of premature dreams like those is not waking up and realizing you haven't yet won the fight, but simply realizing that it all isn't over, yet.
"Win or lose, the relief after all that is ridiculous," he explained, of post-competition emotional release.
Brendan, Bryan, and Evan talk about that, and a host of other topics in the latest episode of The Fighter & The Kid. One of our favorite insights from this one is Brendan, a life-long football player before getting into MMA, discussing football, concussions, and what could possibly be done to prevent the latter, in light of the news of San Francisco 49ers star linebacker Chris Borland's decision to retire because of concern over head trauma.
Is there a way concussions could be reduced in football, Bryan asked Brendan.
"No," the fighter said, bluntly.
"It's a collision sport. So, anyone who thinks, 'Oh, here's rugby players. They are going to teach you how to tackle,' anyone who thinks that has never played the game properly. Lineman get concussions all the time. What are they going to do?
"There's nothing we can do. It's what you sign up for. It's part of the game."
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