As fans eagerly await the main event of UFC 305 next weekend, the global MMA community has been left wondering following a clip showing Dricus Du Plessis’ coach using an electric “stun baton” on his athletes during training.
The official UFC 305 Countdown documentary, recently uploaded to the UFC channel, unveiled a rather unusual and controversial training method implemented at CIT Performance Institute, the gym where champion Dricus Du Plessis hones his skills.
In the video, coach Visser can be seen addressing his fighters, “So, think about why you’re going to get tased; all of you think about it.” He then gives the stun baton a little test for the cameras, noting, “This is my assistant coach.”
Visser explained the reasoning behind this unorthodox approach, “If they f*** up, I help them fix the problem. This is fixing the problem… [If he’s] not on his toes, not picking up his hands, not kicking when he needs to, so I’ll fix it here [with this].”
Du Plessis himself described the tactic as “a very cool mental note” to remind him of what not to do in a fight, adding that using the stun baton “works a lot better than a sticky note.”
Pavlovian psychology, also known as classical conditioning, works on humans in various ways, but its effectiveness has limits. It relies on the association of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response. This method has been shown to influence behavior, emotions, and physiological reactions.
While Pavlovian psychology can significantly influence human behavior and emotions, its impact is limited by the complexities of human cognition, individual differences, and the potential for conditioned responses to weaken over time.
As the champion prepares to face the formidable Israel Adesanya, coach Visser emphasized the importance of a tailored gameplan. “For every fight, we do a specific preparation,” he said, breaking down the expected strategy against “The Last Stylebender” in Perth.
Visser expressed confidence in Du Plessis’ abilities, stating, “I see Dricus beating Izzy wherever we decide to, if it’s stand up, in the kicking, in the clinch, in the wrestling, or on the floor… He’s got no chance.”
While many within the MMA community predict that Du Plessis will have to rely on his superior wrestling and grappling to emerge victorious, Visser teased that the South African team has a few surprises up their sleeve. “We haven’t shown them anything yet, and that’s what they can’t figure out – we’ve got a different gameplan for every fight.”
As the UFC 305 main event approaches, the MMA world will be closely watching to see if Du Plessis’ unorthodox training methods, including the use of the electric “stun baton,” will pay dividends in the octagon.
