Issue 145
September 2016
The better halves in four of MMA’s romantic relationships reveal what it’s like to share a life in fighting
COUPLE 1
Rose Namajunas = Pat Barry
Couples’ counseling in the gym
Q. How many fights have you had with Pat in your corner?
A. He’s been with me every step of the way. Actually, that was the best memory from my very first fight. Having Pat there and having him corner me it brought us closer together. That entire experience was great for me.
Q. Is it true that the best way to get to know someone is to fight them?
A. Yeah. It’s pretty good couples therapy, too (laughs). You duke it out and forget what you were angry about beforehand. Obviously, there is no maliciousness involved but a little competition is good for you. I would say that our relationship is special because I wouldn’t suggest couples coaching or cornering each other for fights. That’s not for everybody. You see couples in the gym and the guy is coaching the girl and she is not having it. Guys, don’t try to coach your chick. It’s not gonna work.
COUPLE 2
Joseph Benavidez = Megan Olivi
Interviewing your husband is no joke
“Interviewing Joe is so funny. After his last fight, my boss was like, ‘You know you can be nice to your husband on camera, right? You were rude to him in that interview.’ I was very short.
“He probably has to stop himself from laughing more (than me). The great thing about Joe is he’s always been so respectful of my career. If I’m doing this job he’s going to treat me like he’s answering a question at a press conference. He does a great job.
“The annoying thing is the eyes. Now we’re married, it’s become even worse. People are always looking for us to be flirty. Sometimes I have to be, ‘OK, let’s just get through this.’ But then everyone stops. When we’re in the back and I interview Joe there’s 50 people and they all watch us. That gets a little weird.
“People watch me watch him fight. I actually had to go into a part of the MGM where there wasn’t any monitors. I’m not the spectacle. Watch him fight. I don’t like that when they do that in boxing and they put the camera on the wives. I just want them to pay attention to him, so I kind of scurry away.
“I don’t have a problem interviewing anyone, but sometimes if I interview Demetrious (Johnson) or Dominick Cruz – the two guys who have beaten Joseph – people think it must be so weird for (me). It’s really not. Dominick and I have some of the best interviews. To this day, it’s never made any of the fighters feel like they have to say something. I always make sure I’m going into it as fair and unbiased as I can.”
COUPLE 3
Miesha Tate = Bryan Caraway
Always in each other’s corner
‘Cupcake’ and ‘Kid Lightning’ have fought on the same card and cornered each other four times. And every time they’ve come away in the win column. But how can they concentrate on giving each other instructions when they have to think about another fight that night?
Tate explains: “No matter what happens, I separate my fight from his fight emotionally. That’s something we get a lot of practice at in the gym. Being a couple, we have to separate things, so it’s something I feel really good at. It’s a little more stressful than normal, but we were both super motivated and I felt like I have a lot of positive energy because of it. That’s how we roll.”
Just the two of us
The couple that fights together, stays together
1 Strikeforce: Melendez vs Thomson
Tate def. Elaina Maxwell by decision
Caraway def. Alvin Cacdac by first-round submission
2 Cagesport MMA
Tate def. Jamie Lynn Welsh by first-round TKO
Caraway def. Daniel Stenovich by first-round submission
3 Cagesport 7
Tate def. Sarah Oriza by second-round KO
Caraway def. Eddie Pelczynski by first-round submission
4 UFC on Fox 16
Tate def. Jessica Eye by decision
Caraway def. Eddie Wineland by decision
COUPLE 4
Ronda Rousey = Travis Browne
Pick me up when I’m down
Usually, ‘Rowdy’s love life is none of your damn business. But when UFC heavyweight ‘Hapa’ revealed he and the former 135lb champion were together, she broke her silence. “I don’t talk about my personal life much. That’s why it’s called ‘personal life’. It’s true that Travis and I are in a relationship. I’ve really enjoyed the time we have spent together and getting to know one another. And that’s all I’m going to say about it,” she said.
Then everything changed. After her devastating loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 Rousey revealed how vital the Hawaiian was to her life and career in an emotional interview with Ellen DeGeneres.
“Honestly, I was in the medical room sitting in the corner and I was like, ‘What am I any more if I’m not this. I was literally sitting there thinking about killing myself. In that exact second I’m like, ‘I’m nothing. What do I do? No one gives a s**t any more without this. To be honest I looked up and saw my man. Travis was standing there and I was like, ‘I need to have his babies. I need to stay alive.’ I was meant to have him when I was at my lowest, for sure. I wouldn’t have made it without him.”
