THE GOOD FIGHT

UFC fighter Lyman Good discusses the mental and physical strength required to succeed in the octagon

Charlie Connell

Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” It’s a maxim that has stuck with many in the fight game, as it speaks to how the countless hours of preparation a fighter puts in before a fight can all go out the window in the blink of an eye.

In only his second professional fight, Lyman Good experienced a more brutal version of this life lesson—what the hell do you do when your dominant hand is broken and one of your bones is poking through the skin?

Easy. Just keep using it until you knock that motherfucker out.

“It broke on the very first punch I threw,” Good says. “I aimed for the face, but he shot in and I ended up hitting the top of the head. As it landed, I felt and heard the sound, and I knew it was fractured. I just didn’t think it was actually sticking out of the skin.

“I fought the whole fight like that,” Good continues. “You’ll be surprised to know what adrenaline will get you through. Sure enough, I kept hitting with it and sure enough I ended up knocking the guy out with the same hand. As they were pulling off my glove I felt this current, this shock of electricity going up my arm. They peeked through the glove and saw there was a bone sticking out.”

That scar is a trophy that Good carries with him to this day, an always-present reminder of how he was able to overcome adversity and persevere. From the comfort of your recliner, with a cold brew in your hand, it’s pretty easy to watch a UFC fight and think that you’re capable of holding your own in the octagon. You’ll be sitting there thinking about how if you hit the gym just a couple more times a month… but you’re dreadfully wrong.