MMA fighter's attitudes towards physical pain

Unlike other combat sports, MMA involves a variety of striking and grappling techniques focused in almost every part of the opponent's body, therefore the physical damage dealt and taken by these athletes comes in a wide range of qualities and intensities. High profile MMA fighters develop an outstanding physical pain tolerance and pain coping strategies which gradually modify their attitudes towards physical pain, making them less likely to catastrophize or mishandle pain experiences. Given this context, having a deeper knowledge on fighters attitudes towards physical pain may be useful in developing more effective non-pharmacological pain management interventions. Currently I'm working on my master’s degree thesis proyect which involves MMA fighter's implicit (non-conscious) attitudes toward pain-related concepts which will be examined by using the Implicit Association Test (IAT). 

I'd appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Alex

Some interesting info on this topic:

The body in pain and pleasure: An ethnography of Mixed Martial Arts ------------> http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:848305/FULLTEXT01.pdf

What is IAT? ------------> https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/iatdetails.html

Contribute to science, take a test (IAT)! ------------> https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html