It’s not unusual for major sports players to turn up at the occasional poker tournament but it’s a little less common for great card players to try their hand at another sport – that’s why Terrence Chan is such a remarkable exception.
The highly acclaimed poker player, with over $1,000,000 in career earnings from the game, has completed a total of six fights so far in the MMA arena.
In a way it’s not so surprising that he has been attracted to this very different kind of battle to the one that he’s used to around the card table. After all, it is a sport with global popularity that is increasing all of the time as well as being potentially very lucrative if you manage to hit the highest levels.
Of course it’s every fighter’s ultimate aim to make it to the UFC and Chan is no exception but he is very conscious that there is a delicate balance to be struck between his poker and MMA careers. For example this summer he has had to put his fighting on hold to make way for the World Series of Poker which is the biggest event in the game’s calendar held in Las Vegas every year where the best players in the world are pitted against each other to play for a prize pot of potentially millions.
As Chan acknowledges, the mental side of both poker and MMA is also vitally important. By being mentally tough it can help you to stay calm and strong so when you’re in a tight corner, it can see you through. Plus, if you have the power in your hands to remain steadfast while undermining your opponent’s confidence through techniques like trash talking so much the better. After all, as this infographic made by 888poker shows, it’s worked for so many sports people in the past that there’s no reason why Chan couldn’t add it to his already considerable skills.
Obviously poker and MMA have very different skill requirements but there are also a number of similarities and it is these that Chan believes could possibly take him higher in the fight game. Central to these is the sheer commitment and hard work that has to go into both disciplines. For poker it is the constant study of potential hands of cards and how to make the most of them, as well as learning all you can about the habits and tactics of your opponents. For MMA it’s more of a question of putting the hours in at the gym and ensuring that you’re at your very peak of physical fitness.
So it’s fair to say that we can look forward to seeing Chan both round the card table and in the MMA arena for several years to come using the skills from both to benefit his performance. But whether this will be enough to help him make it to the very top level in the latter, we’ll just have to wait and see.
