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Ben Johnson used insane UFC knockout to motivate players for joint practice

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI
By Pete Martuneac | Last updated Sep 6, 2025 10:25 AM ET

Don't look now, Chicago Bears fans, but your head coach appears to be a bit of psycho, and that's a good thing. For far too long, the Bears have been a soft team. The kind of team that couldn't respond to a punch in the mouth. Matt Eberflus did not hold anyone accountable (Bears offensive players had to beg former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron to coach them harder) and Matt Nagy seemed to prefer being friends with his players rather than their head coach.

That's all changed dramatically with head coach Ben Johnson and we've already seen proof of that. During training camp, the Bears hosted the Miami Dolphins for a joint practice that got so physical, Dolphins players were still upset about it weeks later, with one player calling out the Bears for 'fake' toughness.

I hate to disappoint Miami, but that toughness is anything but fake. It's a defining feature of how Ben Johnson wants to run his football team, and Bears fans can now get a behind-the-scenes look at that process thanks to NFL writer Dan Wiederer of The Athletic. Wiederer recently published an article detailing Johnson's quest to both entertain the fans and embarrass the competition, and one particular insight explains Chicago's tougness in their joint practices.

According to Wiederer, Johnson started the team meeting the night before their joint practice with a clip from a UFC fight from 2019. In this match, welterweight Jorge Masvidal knocked out Ben Askren with a flying knee just five seconds into the match. He then played this clip on a loop on all the TVs at Halas Hall all the next morning before practice.

I think it's safe to say that the Bears understood the assignment; they took it to the Dolphins from the first snap of practice and got almost no pushback. Safety Kevin Byard echoed this statement when he said, "That was a mentality moment for us... I don't care if it's practice or a game. [Opponents] have come to our house and we have to set the tone. Just like this dude did in this fight."

A fast start would be a refreshing change for the Bears. In 2024, the Bears failed to score a touchdown on any of their 17 opening drives. In almost every game, they were the ones who had to respond to a figurative flying knee at the first bell. Johnson wants to be the one bringing the heat from the jump, forcing opponents to figure out how to respond. It's the same mentality Johnson had as the offensive coordinator in Detroit and was a big reason why that Lions offense was so feared for three years.

Older football fans will remember that the NFC North used to be known as the "Black and Blue Division" for the toughness of its teams, and it's high time the Bears get back to that kind of mentality.

This article first appeared on Chicago Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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