Former UFC lightweight fighter Joseph Benavidez (39, USA) had no luck as a player. His name always has the label of ‘number two’ attached to it.
Benavidez has been active in the UFC since 2011 after going through the WEC in 2008. He boasted top-level skills across several weight classes, including featherweight, bantamweight, and flyweight. In either weight class, he maintained the top rankings. However, he always kept his head down with the championship belt in front of him. In the bantamweight division, Dominic Cruz (USA), and in the flyweight division, Demetrius Johnson (USA) and Davidson Figueredo (Brazil) were blocked frequently. In the end, Benavidez retired after losing to Askar Askarov (Russia) in March 2021.
You can also see Benavidez as an unlucky fighter. However, many fight fans say he is a ‘true winner’. It was because he had the most beautiful woman among the women involved in the UFC as his wife.
Benavidez’s wife is Megan Olivier (37, USA), who works as a UFC reporter. A graduate of Seton Hall, a prestigious American university, Olivier worked as an intern at Fox News before working as a reporter in charge of interviewing fighters at UFC. Olivier, who has both beauty and intelligence, married Benavidez in 2015 and has been living a happy life until now.
I got the chance to do a video interview with Olivier. During that time, he had interviewed several UFC-related personalities, but this was his first time with a woman. She was curious about the UFC she looked at as a fighter’s wife, and as a journalist as well.
Olivier, who also hosts broadcasts related to the UFC as well as the American Football (NFL), said, “I was in Atlanta last week and New Orleans this week.” said.
When asked about her love story with Benavidez, Olivy smiled broadly.
“We met in Las Vegas and he asked me for my email address. I guess I thought that was the professional way. After that, we exchanged e-mails, chatted through text messages, phone calls, and messengers. He lives in California and I live in New York. We were just friends for a while. Then we met often in Las Vegas, and we came all the way here.”
“Joseph is the greatest man on the planet,” Olivi said. He is kind, hilarious, and talented at heart. Anyone who meets Joseph falls in love with him. He is so lucky to be able to share his life with him,” he added.
A fighter’s life is rough. It is painful for a spouse to see a loved one hurt and frustrated. Olivi knows that pain all too well. 안전놀이터
“I think she’s seen Joseph play once or twice over the past five years,” she said. Overcoming pain and suffering is ultimately the fighter’s job. In martial arts, the fighter is the main character. I just give Joseph a shoulder to cry on on the day he loses. I have to be strong for him. When he loses, I cry in the bathroom and in the car. But I never cry in front of Joseph. Because any man worries when he sees his wife crying. I don’t want him to feel guilty or even more upset about me.”
When Benavidez announced her retirement, her favorite was also Olivier. This is because he no longer has to go through the pain of losing weight or shed tears over the loss.
“We ate a lot more food than usual,” she said. Retirement was entirely his decision. He has lived a much more leisurely life. Nothing too much has changed though. I just eat a little more than before. He’s still in great shape, but he doesn’t have to manage his weight as much as he did when he was a player.”
Olivi says working in the UFC as a woman isn’t easy. The hardest thing is the prejudice against combat sports that still lingers.
“Unfortunately, people who don’t normally watch martial arts may have bad preconceived notions. It’s my job to tell you how professional the fighters are, how much effort they put in, and how much the UFC cares about keeping fights safe. I focus on storytelling so people listen to the players. And it allows you to see their human side. It’s not just about watching players fighting other people in the octagon, it’s about showing the human side of the players. Then the fans care more about the players.”
As a UFC reporter, Olivier’s goal is to tell more of the human stories of fighters. It is his dream to create opportunities for many people to be moved and sympathize with their success stories.
“I want to show the human side of the players. It is to give people a reason to like the player. When people get to know him, they’ll count on him whether he wins or loses. It tells the story of where he came from and where he is going. So my goal is to give fighters a platform to tell their stories. I want to show a human side, not just a fighter fighting in a cage.”