Below is a blurp taken from an excellent article by Kobus Huisamen.

Check out the Forums for a free download of his E-Book : Mental Preparation of a Fighter.

Sudden changes

On my first kickboxing fight in Japan, I was sharing a dressing room with a fighter from England, who was set to fight the Japanese middleweight champ.

All fights were going to be according to Japanese rules, which allowed elbow strikes.

The English fighter was very upset. As a Muay Thai fighter, he was very good with elbows and knees and prepared to take this fighter down specifically with elbows. However, a few hours prior to the fight, the association decided that for this specific fight, no elbow strikes were allowed.

The fighter’s game plan suddenly went awry.

One of my own fighters in Korea was set for an MMA fight one night. Three hours before the fight, the organizers called me and changed the rules and the opponent.

What do you do?

I told my fighter (here’s the lesson): “No matter who stands in front of you – that is the guy you’ll break to pieces; no matter what rules, you’ll fight and win.” This was a lesson burnt into my mind years ago by Henk Pelser.

http://www.fighttimes.com/magazine/magazine.asp?article=591