The Glamorous Life of a Professional Fighter

You see an excited fighter bouncing to the cage to some carefully selected “walk out song” followed by the entourage of guys wearing matching shirts.  Maybe there’s some bling in the form of a championship belt.  Two fighters pumped full of adrenaline give everything they have and the crowd goes crazy.  After the fight, fans and fighters congratulate each other and take pictures.  Then there’s usually an after party made up of fighters, their camps, a couple of former UFC fighters, production staff and again, fans.  It’s all part of the show, and win or lose it’s always one of the most memorable nights of your life… Now here’s the whole picture:

Thursday

After a 3 hour flight we wait in the shuttle for an hour for a couple fighters that never show up (in general we are a flakey lot), then there’s an hour ride to the town where the fight will actually take place.  We arrive at a charming but less than modern hotel where there is only a pretense of Wi Fi and a room that smells like cigarettes.  The “provided meal” that night included Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes.  My husband/coach threw away his food and saved his dinner roll.  Then he tasted his roll and threw it away too.  I had to cut weight the next day so I ate an apple and we braved the sleet and walked to Sonic for some “nutrition” for him.

Friday

I relaxed until it was time to start my cut, which I always do in a hot bath.  I turned on the water and yep, it was warm not hot.  So I made a pseudo sweat hut out of one of the comforters on the bed.  I am nothing if not resourceful.  I weighed in at 114.8 lbs, right on target and the promoter gave us passes to the buffet.  Now I know what you are thinking when I say “Buffet,” because that’s what I was thinking too.. but it was 6 trays of fried seafood and a tiny salad bar.  My husband again threw out his food and had some apple crisp and ice cream.

Back at the hotel it was “Taco Night.”  A warm tortilla and re-fried beans (I didn’t ask what they were fried in either time) never looked so good.  My husband who was happily eating his taco said “Life is all about comparisons…”  Because of my cut, I had a lot of nutrients to replace for the fight the next night, I ate most of the food I brought with us, including my husband’s turkey jerky… I’m a vegetarian, I was truly desperate.

Saturday

Fight Day!  A winter storm had moved in and the venue was freezing.  I was more concerned about getting warm than about my fight.  Good for nerves, bad for warming up.  Then they took all of our food except fruit at 5pm, I didn’t fight until 11pm.  No excuses, my opponent was in the same situation.  My face got pretty lumped up and I lost my fight.  There was no after party.  My husband wanted to sleep, I had too much adrenaline.

Sunday

After two hours of sleep, a late shuttle, and severe weather warnings we made it to the airport on time.  I feel like everyone thinks my husband beats me and I’m wondering if I’m going to be able to work tomorrow with bruises on my face.

The good news is the promoter was a straight up man, he paid me in cash, and he wants to have my husband come fight for him too.  As always, I met a lot of awesome people and have many lessons learned for next time.  Although it’s never as glamorous as it looks, I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything.

www.KatieCasimir.com