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It’s been well-documented that Georges St-Pierre’s upset loss to Matt Serra at UFC 69 sent him into a tailspin of self-doubt, so much so that he sought the help of a sports psychologist. The result was a re-focused St-Pierre, who has won all of the nine fights he has fought since the loss, in addition to regaining the welterweight title.

Similarly, York pro Jay Haas (10-7) noticed that there was a disturbance in his mindset prior to his fights. “I’ve been having some trouble in the past couple fights with my mental game,” he said. About mid-way through his career thus far, Haas rattled off five straight wins, lost once, won two more, then lost again. “Most of my fights, I lose the fight before I get into the cage,” Haas said.

Fighting professionally since 2008, Haas finds himself saddled with a great deal of pressure: he’s engaged, has two young daughters, and fighting is his own source of income. He tried out for The Ultimate Fighter last year, and made it pretty far in the selection process. It’s unclear why Haas wasn’t picked, although Dana White was quoted as saying he didn’t mind if fighters padded their records a bit with easy fights, so long as they were sporting records like 10-0, 11-1, and so on. Continue reading →