The heart of a Lion

I just finished watching UFC 107 ( read Ultimate fighting championships). After watching the main event between BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez, the commentator Joe Rogan said a phrase about the loser Diego Sanchez that struck a chord with me.

"Sanchez has the heart of a Lion."

Of course its well known that Lion is widely accepted as the King of the Jungle and the most powerful predator among many. Well..for people just tuning in, Sanchez received a hell of a pounding for 5 rounds. It culminated in one of the deepest cuts on his forehead and it resulted in a doctor stoppage. His left eye was closed, his left side of his face was swollen and his lower lip was cut.

Well, I have seen people get pummelled and destroyed in the octagon before. BJ Penn himself was in the receiving end a masterful performance by Georges St Pierre recently. So what made this performance special  apart from this being one of the worst cuts in MMA?

There is a wide spread misconception that Lion is the strongest predator in the jungle. It may be in the top 10 but it definitely is not number one. Grizzlies weigh almost 2.5 times the weight of a lion and are strong enough to kill raging bulls. Tiger is the largest cat in the world. It is more agile, more muscular, have larger teeth and a greater bite force, some species of tigers outweigh lions by almost 100 pounds. [ not to move on a tangent a lot, I will have a tiger vs Lion article soon]. Then what is the quality of a Lion?

In one word- "COURAGE". Lions are mean fighting machines that spend close to 4 years of their lives learning how to fight. They are known never to back down from a fight. They beat stronger foes by sheer will and aggressiveness. I remember a documentary I had watched in National Geographic about a pride of Lions in Krueger Park. This was the last fit Lioness in its pride and the pride desperately needed a successful kill for survival. Opposite her was atleast 150 wildbeasts all of the them easily twice the lion's size. They are charging towards the Lioness..

In one of the most incredible attacks ever, the lioness stands her ground and  then leaps into the oncoming wild beast mob and captures a wild beast. The rest run away, I guess amazed by the sheer guts.

BJ Penn was clearly physically stronger and more skilled than Sanchez. Penn is one of the best strikers in the Lightweight division. He is also a Jitu-Jitsu world champion, with renowned grappling skills and world class take down defense. On top of this he had a strength advantage over Sanchez. There was no chance for Sanchez. The fight ought to have been a no-contest and should have ended in the first round.

But all this didnt stop Sanchez from moving forward striking and attempting take downs. BJ Penn's offense didnt stop him from coming forward and sttacking even on one instance. I am sure BJ Penn would have been thinking I would have to kill him to stop him, he is not going to quit.

A couple of other performances I can recall which deserves the "heart of Lion" title :-
Georges St Pierre 's victory in his first match versus BJ Penn after getting absolutely thrashed and bloodied up in the first round.
Jon Fitch's performance in his 5 round loss against Georges St Pierre.
Fedor Emelianenko's victories against Fujita (he borderline knocked out midway through the bout) and Kevin Randleman ( he was suplexed WWE style and landed heavily on his neck- but finished the bout 30 seconds later).
Sachin Tendulkar's 143 versus Australia midst a sandstorm at Sharjah in 1998, which qualified India to the final.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer's battled like Lions during Rome 2006 final and Wimbledon 2008 final.

So what is so special about having the heart of Lion. Well in the current world where everyone plays it safe, it sometimes takes the heart of a Lion to stand out from the rest of the field - Just like how the Lion stands out from the rest of the animals in the Jungle.