Jayson Tatum Shares How Coach Mazzulla Uses UFC Videos to Build Boston Celtics’ Mental Toughness

The NBA is potentially one game away from crowning a new champion for the 2023-24 season. While the Boston Celtics are a win away from being 18-time champions, Jayson Tatum has revealed coach Joe Mazzulla’s UFC secret that has propelled them to the top.

Apparently, Mazzulla uses the UFC as a reference to keep his players from getting distracted by their own unassailable lead. Taytum shed further light on this tactic in a recent press conference.

The All-American recently sat down for a post-game press conference following a 106-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks in game 3 where a reporter asked Taytum how he and his teammates planned on being focused.

Given their 3-0 lead in the series and being one game away from winning the championships, distractions are natural. However, Taytum revealed the coach’s tactic that has managed to keep them focussed on the goal they have.

“(Joe)  is a big UFC fan, and showing us fights of people … about to tap out and you see the guy or the woman who is winning end up relaxing because they feel like they are about to win. And then you give the other person life. Just trying to translate that to the game of basketball. The closer you are to winning, the closer that they are to surviving.”

Jayson Tatum says Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla shows the team videos of UFC fighters getting choked out to show how they stay calm in those moments and fight back

“The closer you are to winning, the closer that they are to surviving.”

@wfaa #UFC #NBAFinals #NBA pic.twitter.com/QVUgMDzWIK

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) June 13, 2024

Tatum here is referring to situations where fighters loosen their grip once they feel an opponent might have tapped or when they feel they have secured the submission. This happens more often in the UFC than experts care to count, with the most recent one being Charles Oliveira vs Arman Tsarukyan.

Oliveira’s Loss a Lesson for Celtics?

During their #1 contender fight for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 300, Charles Oliveira came very close to finishing off Arman Tsarukyan multiple times. Tsarukyan managed to survive two choke holds that Oliveira could have sworn he used to finish off Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier.

However, despite coming this close to a win, Oliveira couldn’t finish it off and ended up losing the fight to the younger fighter. The Celtics certainly have a lot to learn from it. They are very very close to the finish line and now is the perfect time for distractions.