In sports, in business, and in almost everything in life, a competitor doesn’t win because he’s stronger; he wins because of some mistake his opponent makes.

An example of this is the recent fight between Anderson Silva and the American Chris Weidman. Whether you understand the rules of the UFC or not, whether you like the sport or not there’s a simple lesson to be learned.

Eight seconds into the video, you can notice Silva provoking his opponent — something he does from the beginning of the fight. In a matter of seconds, Weidman finds an opportunity and knocks out the Brazilian. The knock-out was not only the first in Silva’s career of 38 fights, but it also cost him the world title which he held for a record breaking time, since 2006.

You will notice the same thing happens in any sport, in history, in politics, in business, and in essentially any area of life. The opponent doesn’t necessarily win because he’s better, stronger or more intelligent. He wins because his challenger messed up before or during the competition. Someone had said these words almost two thousand years ago:

1^st lesson: Be careful with your mistakes. They are the main cause of your failures.

2^nd lesson: If you want to win, identify the mistakes and weaknesses of your opponent and take advantage of them. Remember that playing dirty shows that you haven’t learned the first lesson.

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