The Three Amigos recently caught up with Bec Rawlings who discussed her crazy, emergency trip to Tijuana to get a cortisone shot, the flawed Reebok weigh-in gear, boob jobs, living/training with “madman” Dominick Cruz & much more.
Tomorrow night’s UFC Brisbane: Fight Night 85 event is a fun card, and while it may not be front loaded with a slew of the elite level contenders (only two fights feature Top 15 ranked fighters) , it’s certainly got some compelling bouts that might start that climb towards a belt challenge. The strawweight division is still relatively thin, so the outcome of the fight between “Rowdy” Bec Rawlings and Seo Hee Ham could indeed see one of the women enter the Top 15 to become an entry level contender.
Rawlings, who’s been out of competition for almost a year due to a serious hip injury, is chomping at the bit to get back to action. Never one to let the grass grow under her feet, the injury and the period of rest and rehabilitation following the surgery she underwent to repair it have been, according to her, the biggest challenge she’s faced in her career journey.
In an appearance on the Three Amigos Podcast earlier this week, “Rowdy” discussed several topics that included her emergency trip to Tijuana, Mexico to get a cortisone shot, the dwindling sponsor landscape, training and living with “madman” Dominick Cruz, her breast augmentation, the biggest flaw in the Reebok weigh-in attire and what’s got her annoyed with the sport currently.
The Injury (femoral neck fracture)
The injury occurred about two weeks out from the fight, and my camp had been done, I was ready to go and was about to peak. All I had to worry about was my weight, but something was going on with my hormones and maetabolism and I just couldn’t drop the weight. I was on 800 calories, running, doing fat burning workouts and then my hip started hurting. I just assumed it was a muscle or something and that I could just train and fight through it if I could just get through the next two weeks. Once the adrenaline kicks in, you don’t really feel those injuries, so I kept trying to train through it, but it got to the point where the pain was so bad that my brain would actually shut off my leg. I’d go to put weight on my leg and it would just crumble under me.
That’s when my coach was like, ‘I think this is something more serious, so we’re gonna have to get an MRI and check it out.’ Before that, though, I went to Tijuana to get a cortisone shot in my hip [laughs]. I went to Orange County and got another shot in my hip, Seraphin, I think it’s called, and it’s like a natural medication that’s meant to numb the nerves. We were pretty much just trying to numb my leg so I couldn’t feel it anymore.
That didn’t f*cking work, so I was stuck having to call Sean Shelby and the UFC to say, ‘Look, I can’t walk. I’m going to have to get an MRI and see what’s going on.’ That’s when we found out I had a fracture and had to stop walking on it at once or it could crack all the way through and I could lose the blood flow to my leg, and maybe even lose my leg, so it was pretty dangerous.
Tijuana
The doctor was like, ‘Are you sure you want me to do this? I was like, ‘Just stick that f*cking needle in there and numb this sh*t!’ I was just so intent on fighting. My whole life revolves around getting paid to bash someone. I was so upset. I was ready and I had such a good camp that I just couldn’t accept that I had to pull out, so I made sure I tried every single possibility before I called Sean and gave him the news.
Seo Hee Ham
She’s got a lot of experience fighting midgets, but she’s never fought someone as powerful as me [laughs]. You’ve fought midgets because you’re a 105er and you don’t belong in this f$%*ing division and I’m gonna prove that you don’t belong here. I’m a big strawweight. I’m a big girl that should probably be fighting at 125 and I’m going to be fighting an atomweight. I definitely feel like my size and strength advantage kind of voids her experience.
She’s had a lot of fights, but again, they’ve been against little people that don’t hit as hard. The difference between the people she’s fought, even in the UFC, is that I’m actually going out there to finish you. I’m going out there to hurt you. I’m not going out there to compete just because I enjoy testing my body. I’m going out there to actually hurt you, and I feel like that’s going to make all the difference.
Dominick Cruz
Dom’s an animal. His warmup is like most people’s workout. I’m actually fortunate enough to live with him while I’m doing my camps over there, so I get the mental psychology training 24/7 with that guy. He’s nitpicking everything I’m doing, all my fights, all my opponent’s fights and breaking it down, just trying his best to help me improve. It’s never ending. He’s the world champ for a reason. He’s an amazing athlete and his work ethic is just out of control. The coach has to tell him to settle down sometimes.
He told me that he woke up one morning at like 3 AM, and he could not get to sleep until he had calculated in his brain how many training sessions, sparring sessions and sprint sessions he has until fight night [laughs]. He literally calculated that in his brain and then, that motherf*cker passed his obsession on to me, because I woke up mid-camp, trying to figure out how many sparring sessions I had until I had to fight. He’s kind of passed on his madness, his craziness to me [laughs].
When he saw me limping around the mat, still trying to train through that injury, he was like, ‘You’re out of the race. You’ve blow a tire. You’ve got to go to the pit stop.’ I was, ‘No! It’s not true! I’m fighting.’ He’s like, ‘You’re not fighting.’ I was, ‘Shut the f*ck up!’ [Laughs]
Free Agency
I feel like I’m always gonna go where I get paid more. Obviously I do this sport because I love it, but I also have two kids that I have to support, so I’ve got to do what’s best for me and my kids, so if that means going to another promotion, then I’m all for it, but we’ll just see. I’m happy with the UFC right now, and hopefully I can re-negotiate my contract soon because I’m still stuck on the TUF contract, which is pretty sh*tty. We’ll just see where it all goes. One promotion that I would love to fight in is ONE Championship, just because you get to soccer kick people in the face [laughs].
Breast augmentation
If you know me very well, you know that I don’t listen to rules. I don’t follow the rules in life, and I’m sure there are probably precautions, but I don’t care for them. I was actually lying in bed, recovering from surgery (augmentation), when they offered me the fight against Joanne Calderwood in Scotland, and I calculated in my head how many weeks until I could start running and doing things, and it was like eight weeks out. I was like, ‘F*ck yeah. I can get fit in six weeks.’ I had just come from a fight, so three weeks after breast surgery, I was sparring at Alliance. [Laughs] I’ve had no problems at all. I guess these babies are durable.
The toes of the camel
I actually don’t mind the kit. I don’t mind not having to worry about getting it all done. When you have to get logos and stuff sewn on, that’s a pain in the butt if you don’t have a good manager, which I didn’t at the time, so it was a hassle. I tried mine on today, and they have someone on site to make alterations if you don’t like the fit of it. They’re actually pretty cool in that way.
The only thing I’m disappointed in is the weigh-ins. I have to wear their bra and their underwear and I hate certain underwear. Dude, I’m notoriously known for cameltoe. This sh*t is not going to cover it [laughs]. I’m going to be all over the internet with my goddamned cameltoe showing! That’s one thing that I don’t like, their underwear. They need to fix that sh*t!
After my last fight, my mom sent me a link to…I don’t even know what they’re called, but they’re like liners you put in your underwear to hide your cameltoe. I’m like, ‘Gee thanks, Mom!’
Barren sponsor landscape
It’s changed a lot. A lot of sponsors disappeared and they just don’t want to be a part of it anymore. I still get a lot of clothing brands wanting to sponsor me, but they just want to give me gear. I’m like, ‘I don’t care what I train in. I’ll go to Walmart and train in their sh*tty gear. I need money.’ That’s the biggest thing, not as many sponsors are as keen to come on board. You’ve got to hustle more, and I’m thankful that I have the few sponsors that I do have that actually look after me. It’s (the landscape) gotten pretty sh*tty, but it is what it is.
Paige VanZant’s comments about wishing she hadn’t tapped out after Holly Holm went out on her shield
I feel like that’s the only reason she made that comment. How long has it been since her fight? And she’s just now saying it? She’s just trying to gain some recognition right now because she’s seen that it worked for Holly, so maybe it will work for her. She did prove how tough she was, because that first choke that Rose got on her was sunk in deep, but I think by Round 3, she’d just had enough, and Rose just wore her down with the constant attacks.
I definitely feel like before that fight, she hadn’t really proved how tough she was because she’s fought mediocre opponents. Even if she did fight good girls, the advantage was always to her going in. The way the UFC treats the Paiges and the Sages and the Conors…you know how it is. Their opponents always seem to be a bit sabotaged or set up for failure. That’s the way I see it, anyway.
I feel like she hadn’t really proved how tough she was until that fight, and I definitely feel like she’s one of the toughest girls in the division, buit I wouldn’t say “the toughest.”
McGregor vs Diaz
I’ve always loved Conor. I love the way he mentally attacks people for 12 weeks and wears them down. I just love his outlook on fighting and his style. He’s an exciting fighter, but…it’s kind of grown a little bit old. I like how he used to attack people, but now all he talks about is money. Shut the f*ck up. I don’t care how much money you have. I’m done hearing about that and belittling Nate because he doesn’t have money? It’s like you’re kind of sh*tting on the UFC right now because that’s his employer, so don’t you think that doesn’t make sense? We should all be getting paid, and we shouldn’t be f*cking broke. We shouldn’t be fighting from check to check.
So yeah, I was so stoked for Nate. It couldn’t have happened to a better person, and I’m just glad that he has the mentality of literally, “I don’t give a f*ck. Whatever you say, whatever you do, I’m gonna go out there and fight and knock your f*cking head off.” I was nearly in tears when he won. It was awesome.
UFC 2 game “wack” characterization
I think they struggled a lot with the girl characters. They were trying to make us look tough and intimidating, but they kind of made us look manly. They definitely kind of messed up on our faces. I’m glad they gave me a six-pack because I haven’t had one of those since I was like 13-years-old [laughs], but I feel like they made me look like Alexander Gustafsson. My dog is a bull terrier, so maybe they were trying to put some of his character into it [laughs].
Most annoying thing about the sport currently
I really can’t stand the Sage/Paige show. I feel like I lose brain cells every time I watch a video or see a photo. It’s like it melts my brain. I don’t know what it is, and I don’t know them personally, but what I see of them on social media and things like that, I just feel like they have no substance. I feel like they’re just airheads that just smile and try to be cute for the camera.
I think it’s pretty cool that they’ve had a good life, and I’m not gonna hate on them for having an easy life. They’ve probably had troubles here and there, maybe they’re not as vocal about it. Everyone has had shitty times in their lives, so I’m not about to judge them on that, but I just feel like I couldn’t relate to anything from them. Like I couldn’t have a friendship with them because I feel like I just couldn’t relate to them. I feel it would be like talking to a brick wall.
Bec Rawlings vs. Seo Hee Ham kicks off the main card for UFC Brisbane: Fight Night 85 via FS1.
There is more to this awesome interview here (Bec’s interview starts at the 47:55 mark of the audio) or via the embedded player below. Remember, if you’re looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we’re under the MMA Nation name. Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes, Three Amigos Podcast, Geroge Lockhart, Iain Kidd and Mookie Alexander or our Facebook fan page, Three Amigos Podcast.