Megan Olivi covers UFC for FOX Sports and also does sideline reporting for FOX’s NFL coverage, and as she’s married to recently-retired UFC star Joseph Benavidez, she was a perfect guest for Carton & Roberts’ WAG Wednesday.
But when it comes to her jobs, and being a WAG, her career path is the opposite of what you might expect.
“I played and watched sports my whole life, but it never computed in my brain I could work in sports for a living; I didn’t realize it was an option,” Olivi told Craig & Evan. “I interned for FOX News in college and I’d talk to guys on set about the Yankees and Giants, and they’d ask why I wasn’t doing that for a living!”
Olivi was actually a political science major at Seton Hall, so she got a Master’s in journalism at Fordham – and when it came to her big break, it was the fighter who got her the gig, not the other way around.
“The reason I got the job is because I was going to fights with him,” she revealed. “My brother was an accomplished wrestler and I had boxers in my family, so I had the roots of the fight game within me, and they knew I was a huge sports fan. It actually was very opposite of what one might think.”
Benavidez has been beneficial to her career in another way: he has helped her gain and maintain the respect of both the masses and those she covers, because he can give her an expert tutorial anytime she needs to better understands the nuances of MMA.
“You can be judged on stereotypes, but to me, the minute I open my mouth and start to give you information, I want you to be invested in the story I’m telling,” she said. “I used to do a bit of kickboxing and such, but he can walk me through anything if I need him to explain it, physically walk me through it so my understanding is clear. As long I know what I’m talking about and put that storytelling first, people seem to respect it, and I’ve worked hard to make sure that’s the attention I’m garnering.”
She also got a little more of that on the NFL beat, as well, having been paired with Gus Johnson and Aqib Talib last season.
“That was the most fun ever, and Aqib is one of the best guys you can ever be around,” she said. “He’s so respected in the NFL, your job is made easy because you might get more access than any other broadcaster.”
When it comes to home life, well, Olivi is a huge Yankees fan, having grown up going to games at the old Yankee Stadium and idolizing Paul O’Neill, so finding a Yankees fan to share her life with was a must.
“If Joe was a Red Sox fan, we never would’ve spoken, I’d have turned the other way as soon as I found out,” she laughed.
But, when it comes to her second gig with FOX, the Olivi-Benavidez family is a house divided.
“He’s a Yankees fan because there’s not another option with me, but he’s also a Cowboys fan!” Olivi laughed. “Like twice a season we don’t talk.”
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This might also divide the house even further: when it comes to her Mount Rushmore of fighters she’s seen during her career, she has a soft spot for her husband and for fellow Jersey boy Frankie Edgar, but couldn’t put either on her list.
“Number one is Ronda Rousey; it doesn’t matter how her career ended, she broke barriers,” she said. “Then, Jon Jones is probably the best fighter to ever set foot in the Octagon, Conor McGregor took the sport’s popularity to a whole new level…and then maybe Anderson Silva or George St.
Pierre.”
Even if Benavidez gets mad at that, though, Olivi won’t change her tune on something Craig mentioned: outside of perhaps NHL players, mixed martial artists are, by and large, some of the most down to earth athletes on the planet.
“Yeah, 100 percent, they are the most unassuming people. Maybe it’s because they get a lot of energy out every day in their workouts, and they’re not used to being the center of attention like other athletes,” she said.
And that may be why UFC, and other MMA promotions, have caught on like wildfire.
“They’re real salt of the earth people and I think that’s why people like to watch,” she said. “Everyone can understand fighting, but they can also relate to people who step into that Octagon.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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