Weeks ago we mentioned the possibility of the UFC’s first married couple competing in the Octagon, and now it’s become a reality. The UFC has officially booked a husband and wife to compete inside the cage, within the same month. Montana De La Rosa made her UFC debut earlier this year when she came out of the latest season of the UFC’ reality TV show, “The Ultimate Fighter”. Now, her husband Mark has embarked upon the same journey, and he makes his UFC debut tonight, against Tim Elliot at UFC 219.
It’s a historic benchmark for the UFC, and the proud wife recently talked to MMAWeekly.com about their history making efforts.
“We actually were out trying out for “The Ultimate Fighter” for him for season 27 and he was basically on but he really didn’t want to fight in the 145-pound division,” Montana De La Rosa said when speaking to MMAWeekly. “He told his manager, if you get me a contract with the UFC at 125 or 135 [pounds] that would be great and he ended up doing it.
“It just worked out perfect.”
“It’s obviously a very big accomplishment,” Montana said about her husband joining the UFC roster alongside her. “It takes a lot of hard work to get where we are and we haven’t reached our goals yet. We always saw this in our future but we still have a lot more goals to reach and hopefully we’ll both be getting those belts.”
“We’ve definitely gone through some rough patches. It’s a little bit harder for me because he’s also a coach on my side and I’m not really a coach on his side. So I have to hear all of his little critiques and then we have to go home and be a happy wife. When we’re training he’ll say ‘you need to do this better’ and ‘you need to do that better’,” Montana said.
“We’ve definitely gone through all of that for the past three years so it’s not anything new. It’s actually a lot better and we kind of keep that part of it at the gym and then we go home. We know how to balance it really well.”
“We’re always understanding of each other. It helps when we have fight camps at different times because can help each other out making meals or cutting weight. I think it’s a good thing,” Montana said.
“We help each other through every step of the way. I couldn’t imagine it any other way. I don’t think anybody else would be able to deal with me or deal with him the way we help each other so I think it’s great.”
“I think it’s a little bit less nerve racking because I see how composed he is in the back and I can see where his head’s at,” Montana said. “He’s always very confident in the back and going out to the cage so it really helps being in his corner.”
“That’s going to feel amazing,” Montana said about watching Mark get his first UFC win. “It was only a couple of weeks ago hearing my name announced and what it’s like stepping out on that big stage. I’m definitely excited for him.”
