The draft for this blog post got started as soon as Alex Pereira knocked out Jamahal Hill in UFC 300. Alex got kicked slightly below the belt, pointed it out, abruptly stopped Herb Dean from halting proceedings, then pulled down Hill’s lead hand to hit a short left hook for the knockout. Jamahal Hill has since expressed disbelief at the result and reiterated that he wasn’t hurt and that moment was a chance occurrence that doesn’t conclusively prove that Pereira is superior to him. What I think happened to Hill at that moment was a state change, an underdiscussed concept in fighting that we shall look at more closely in this blog post.
Much of fighting hinges upon microdecisions and split-second judgments, and it’s not limited to just this one event. Outside of combat sports, no amount of preparation or skill can make up for botching and fumbling at the heat of the moment that can result in incapacitation or even death. You zigged when you should’ve zagged in a sanctioned fight and you’ll likely get to wake up and fight another day. The same happens in a real life encounter, the result may not be as forgiving.
One momentary lapse in judgment is all it takes for everything to fall apart.
A state change, if it overwhelms someone’s logic and cognition for even a split second, can turn even the most serious and determined from accomplishing their goal at that very moment. For instance, a miscreant threatens someone with bodily harm for their wallet, they instead abruptly ask them about the weather or say something about his wife. That sudden change of topic may flabbergast the assailant long enough to create an opening.
It has to be abrupt, unexpected, and unbelievable — a splash of cold water to their face.
UPDATE: As of this writing, Alex Pereira had just defeated Jiri Prochazka for the second time to defend his undisputed UFC light heavyweight championship. In that fight, he had read Jiri to the point of being psychic. He’s also just a bad matchup for the Czech fighter, who relies on unpredictability and angles to land his offense. I’ll write about how Alex Pereira is good at punishing bad habits in another blog post.
What is a State Change?
In psychology, a state change is a shift in an individual’s emotional, mental, or physiological state. In layman’s terms, whenever you get taken out of a mood or a zone of focus and have to suddenly readjust, that’s a state change. Whenever you get shocked or flabbergasted without warning, and you can’t help but react by either getting annoyed or flustered, that’s a state change that leads to a hard recovery.
A state change involves a shift in mood, cognition, behavior, or overall psychological function. It can be triggered by external events, internal thoughts, emotions, or physiological processes.
Emotional state change tends to be the most common one that people experience, going from happiness to sadness, excitement to fear, calmness to anger, or vice versa.
Cognitive state change is also very common. It involves shifts in thinking patterns, beliefs, or perceptions triggered by exposure to new information or changes in perspective.
Behavioral state change is when actions and reactions are affected, resulting from either environmental cues, social interactions, or internal motivations.
Physiological state change occurs when the processes in the human body undergo change, like fluctuations in heart rate, blood pressure, hormone levels, or neurological activity.
State change in altered states of consciousness may not be that commonly encountered, but it can occur in meditation, hypnosis, or trance. Perhaps someone is intoxicated, under immense psychological duress, or in an extraordinary adrenal state.
Most of these occur without the subject even noticing, and that’s the point. State change leaves one temporarily unable to immediately react to whatever initiated the state change in the first place. It’s not limited to combat, but let’s focus on how it affects physical conflict events.
State Change in Fighting
In physical conflict, knowing the attacker’s intention is paramount. The difference between someone wanting to merely hurt you and actually kill you is certainly significant, especially if they happen to be formidable. The stronger, more skilled, and/or more experienced the attacker is, the more that difference matters.
Inducing a state change during physical conflict is all about disrupting focus even momentarily, just enough for them to not act on their intention until you’re able to adequately address the situation. If you can divert their attention by making them look the other way or down to their own fly or shoelaces, that should be enough of an opening for you to blindside them with your own offense and/or make your escape.
Of course, if they’re hellbent to maim or eliminate you, they won’t take their eyes off you that easily. Unless you’re Aoki from Hajime no Ippo.
Instigating a state change in the midst of a physical conflict likely cannot be pre-planned. It can only be done at the spur of the moment, especially in an adrenal state. You can’t just think “Oh wait, I can try to distract him and cause a state change,” then ask the assailant why their spouse left them or if their mother is a whore or something else because that would be too slow and too deliberate. It has to be as unexpected, abrupt, and impromptu as possible.
In short, causing state change can’t be a fully deliberate action. It has to seemingly come out of nowhere, so it has to come naturally and not seem or feel forced. You can try to practice it and perhaps it will become second nature for you, but that’s not going to be a sure shot for you to be able to incorporate state change into your self-defense or fighting repertoire.
Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill in UFC 300
This is perhaps the best example of a state change in combat sports I’ve seen in recent memory. There aren’t a lot of clear-cut examples out there, so I’ve put this here for the record.
The final sequence of the fight is as follows — Hill throws a low kick that looked like it hit somewhere in Pereira’s nether region, Pereira signals that it may have hit there, referee Herb Dean calls for a pause, Pereira waves him off to signal that he’s fine, fight keeps going, Pereira pushes Hill’s lead hand down and hits a left hook/uppercut to the head as Hill threw a left, Hill goes down, Pereira proceeds to finish the fight.
There was more than enough time for Hill to regain focus on the task at hand, even if it could be contended that Pereira’s signal to the referee that he had been hit below the belt with the kick was indeed sufficient distraction. The first rule is always ‘Protect yourself at all times,’ and Hill is expected to stay locked in as a professional fighter competing in a title match.
Leaving this here with no explanation pic.twitter.com/mBecsa0QrF
— Miguel Class (@MigClass) April 8, 2024
He got this far, despite having atrocious footwork. It does seem like Jamahal Hill is a repository of bad habits, but he did get by thus far with talent and skill that made up for his weaknesses. After all, bad habits don’t matter until they do.
To this day, months after the fight as of this writing, Jamahal Hill continues to deny that Alex Pereira was able to prove that he was the better fighter, even after he got sent to the realm of sleep with a left hook. He’s a gift that keeps on giving as he continues to publicize how salty he is about the abrupt loss. For instance, here’s some additional whining.
"Why’d you signal to the ref then in the first place?”
Why'd you let him knock you out? https://t.co/0nL1221TlP
— Sonny Go (@thesonnygo) June 28, 2024
It still hasn’t sunk in that he got knocked out fair and square. That’s how effective state change can be — the victim can still be out of it, even well after the fact. He’s doing the same thing as Devin Haney, but at least Haney has a few outs with Ryan Garcia having deliberately missed weight and being on a performance-enhancing drug. The only out that Jamahal Hill has is that he let Alex Pereira touch his chin with his fist.
Conclusion
I remember seeing something about state change online long ago, but I can neither remember what it was nor find it now. It must have been around 2016 when I was still posting fight GIFs on my Tumblr when I first heard about the concept of state change.
For now, I have not seen any more references on state change in relation to fighting and self-defense apart from stuff I may have encountered in the past that I’ve since lost track of. Maybe I’ll find them again or find new stuff on it. When I do, I’ll write about it here.
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