Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Behind The Scenes Of UFC With Megan Olivi - What She's Learned From Working With Dana White, Conor McGregor & Ronda Rousey

Episode Date: March 22, 2022

Megan Olivi (@meganolivi) is a reporter and host for UFC and also a sideline reporter for the NFL on FOX. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet at the Blue Wire Studios at Wynn Las Vegas to talk about how she got started as a broadcaster, majoring in Political Science in college, landing her job with UFC, how interviewing Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey and Brock Lesnar changed the course of her career, meeting her husband Joe Benavidez, working as a sideline reporter for the NFL on FOX, the best advice that Dana White has given her, being on the commentary team with Joe Rogan, her favorite UFC fight of all time and more! Quote to think about: "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” - Babe Ruth For more information about CVV and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens, which is a super important part of my morning routine. With one scoop of athletic greens, you get 75 high-quality vitamins, whole food source superfoods, and probiotics to help you start your day right. This special blend of ingredients supports your gut health, your nervous system, your immune system, your energy, recovery, focus, aging, all the things. And best of all, it tastes amazing. And it's really helped with better sleep quality and recovery for me. Whether you eat keto, paleo, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, whatever it is, it fits right into your diet. Look, lots of people take some kind of multivitamin, and I think it's important to choose one with high-quality ingredients that your

body will actually absorb. That's why I drink athletic greens every morning, and that's why it's recommended by professional athletes in all kinds of different sports. Right now, it's time to reclaim your health and arm your immune system with convenient daily nutrition, especially since it's cold and flu season right now. It's just one scoop in a cup of water every day. That's it. No need for a million different pills and supplements to look out for your health. And to make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a free one-year supply of immune-supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athletic greens.com slash insight. Again, that's athletic greens.com slash insight to take ownership over your health

and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. Athletic Greens. All systems are go. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris, there we go. Welcome back, my friends, to another audio adventure here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. Thank you so much for being back with us inside the unbelievable. believable Blue Wire Studios at Win Las Vegas. I still can't believe that we get to have such amazing conversations in here, that we get to record episodes in here, like this one today with Megan O'Levy.

She's worked as a reporter and host for the UFC for almost a decade. So she's been Octagon's side for some of the biggest fights. Of course, she's talked to some of the biggest athletes in the sport. She's also an NFL sideline reporter, so perhaps you've seen her on your TV on a Sunday while you're watching your team play. If you don't follow her, she's a great follow. Go find her.

She's at Megan O'Levy. I'm at Chris Van Vleet if you're not already following me. Although if you're listening to this, I would hope that you follow me on some sort of social media, whether it's Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, whatever it is. And if you're listening right now and you haven't subscribed to this show, please take a second right now to click subscribe or click the follow button on whatever platform it is that you're listening on right now. Our fan of the week is Naeem Hussein, who says, I love the show.

Thank you for all the insights, pun intended. I just love learning from you and from your guests. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review. I read one on every single episode. So if you have an iPhone, if you have Apple Podcasts, leave a few words, leave a paragraph, leave an emoji, leave whatever you want. I will shout you out on the show for free. If you're listening to this on Spotify, Spotify now has ratings.

So go in there, click the five stars, and it'd be so appreciated if you could do that. Also, if you're going to be in Dallas for WrestleMania weekend next weekend, or if you're going to be at RussellCon, I'll see you there. I'm going to be at RussellCon on Friday, April 1st, and Saturday, April 2nd. Stop by the Fandu Belt's booth. It'd be so great to see you, shake your hand, snap a photo with you. So if you're going to be there, I would love to see you there as well. All right, let's dive into this.

Please welcome Megan. Oh, leave it. A rare day off, so thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. I'm glad to come down here to the wind in this beautiful studio. So it is not a hard ask for me to be here. Look, I'm glad to be here, too. Look at this place.

Gorgeous. Yeah. And I mean, I got a great coffee here. I mean, really. We bribed you. We bribed you with the coffee. Come to the wind. It doesn't take much, just a coffee.

And I'm like, I'll do whatever. That's fine. But thank you so much. I don't know if people realize the full scope of everything that you do. They see you on UFC for, you know, 20 seconds. And they go, wow, that must be an easy job. Yeah. That is exactly the reaction from a lot of people.

They think I'm reading a teleprompter of a script someone else wrote or that someone's in my ear. I write 100% of my own scripts. I memorize it all. There are no teleprompters in our world. So it's a lot. And we do a lot of pivoting. I mean, live TV, you know, there's, there's never any night that goes exactly according to plan.

So sometimes you'll prepare for, you know, two dozen things and you only get to do 10 of them. And sometimes they'll say, hey, remember all that work you did? Throw it out the window. You've got to change everything like in five minutes. So, I mean, it's about being ready for anything and being prepared and on your toes because sometimes there's fill situations. I mean, you could have to fill for 24 minutes of all these fights end early and you have to be a part of that.

And then sometimes there's like, hey, there's not enough time to get your stuff you worked really hard on. And so it's it's a broad scope and there's a lot that goes into it that I think unless you work in the world of TV, you might not be really familiar with. Yeah. And I think that people don't realize what goes into like the full day. So what's a typical pay-per-view day look like? And I'm sure the word typical is not fair because they're all different. No, that's a good question. I mean, well, I'll just like base it off of last weekend. So I do rehearsals for those. intricate hits that you see because they have to be so perfectly timed with the fighters walk with where the camera's going what i'm saying we rehearse those so that when a fighter is is in that position they look as perfect that you see on tv so i arrived at 1030 in the morning um yeah i get some hair and makeup we go into rehearsal um after rehearsal i'll just edit my scripts a little bit if i felt like um something else felt smoother to say or hey this went a little longer this was a little I'll do a little bit of editing, kind of start memorizing as much as I can. The rest of the team comes in, and then we all try and grab some food while we can, and we hit the ground running.

The fights started at three, and that's pretty typical for a West Coast show. And then we don't stop. I left the building close to midnight. So it's a very long day. I do my-14 hours. Yeah, and I do my job on the live broadcast, so you'll see me, you know, contribute to the commentary team. I'll do reports, I'll do interviews. But then I'm also interviewing all the winners from the night, as well as some of the people who did not win.

And then I host a show for ESPN at the end of the night as well. So it's a lot of different roles and a lot of different variables and, yeah, a very long day. So normally when I come home, I'm just trying to like eat 17 tacos and go to bed. And I don't know if everybody realizes that like what we're doing right now is an interview. what you do post-fight is also called an interview, but like such a totally different type of conversation. Yeah, yeah, I mean, there's a lot that goes into those because every athlete, no matter what the outcome is,

they're still so full of adrenaline. I mean, they went out there and they're fighting another human being. So it's not like they're totally, even the most calm or professional fighters, they're still running on these different emotions and feelings. And really these things that are biologically inside of them because they just got into a fight with another human being. So, you know, we're just trying to get the best out of them. My job is to give them a platform to tell us what happened, how they felt,

what they want to do next. It's not really to retell the same story, but it's to get things in their words. And sometimes that can be more challenging. Sometimes athletes don't even remember. They'll be like, I have no idea what even happened the last two rounds. They were so full of adrenaline. So it's always different. And that's what makes it fun. It's always a unique challenge. the same night, no interview will ever be the same. How many different ways have you found that you can ask, how are you feeling? Because that's essentially what we want to know is the audience. How are they feeling after a win or a loss? Yeah, that's a good question because you definitely always phrase things differently and try to be, you know, diverse in the way you're speaking to people.

But it also has a lot to do with each individual personality. Some people, you can't just dive right into an interview with. You can't just start asking them questions about the fight. You almost have to ask them one question to make them comfortable. Some people you know, they want to get in and out, so you better, like, you know, cut your words down to the bare minimum, have exact the right wording and phrasing so that they can get out of the interview as well. There's just, there's so many things that are involved in, in those interviews, but it's, it is about how they're doing. And it's about, you know, what they're thinking for their future and how so much rides on a singular fight, which you don't really see in a lot of other sports. You know, there's always

another opportunity or it was a team effort or, hey, you've got another match later today. But that's not how it exists in our world. So there's a lot that goes into it. And being able to get them to best express themselves is like when I feel like I'm doing my job. And you only have a handful of questions, right? Like if it's a post-fight interview, it's two, maybe three questions. Yes. And that is what's hard. Because they're for television, their time. So our window is usually around two and a half minutes, which is not very long. If you're doing something for digital or, you know, another platform where you can have five full minutes, it's amazing.

Yeah. Because you can get, you know, these complete thoughts and you can really finish all of these ideas. But when you're on TV and maybe their second answer is super long and you're getting wrapped, there's nothing you can do. And sometimes I'm like, oh, it's killing me to not ask this final question. Sometimes I'll try and sneak it in and say, hey, really quick, give me this answer. But I mean, it is, it's an art.

And I think that's a lot of, like I said, that people don't realize that working in these time windows and working with, you know, a control room that's not directly in front of you. And you're trying to figure out where can I go from here to get a clear ending but toss it back. I mean, there's a lot in play. Yeah. Who's the fighter you have the most fun with? Well, I mean, I think I have fun all the time. Clearly, yes. My goal is to show our athletes as human beings and, like, let them have fun, especially before them.

the fight because it's nerve-wracking enough. So if I can, like, get them to laugh or, you know, show their true personality, then I've done my job. But I think there's obviously something special about big fights. So when Rhonda was fighting, she was definitely one of my favorites. When Connor fights, when a Diaz brother fights, even like Jorge and Colby, when these big names fight, there's something a little extra that's on the interviews. And they're usually such pros at answering questions or being present in these one-on-one situations, that they can make the experience easier on me and more fun for the viewer. And I think that's always like where it's a little more entertaining to be a part of just because they know how to play the game. And it is a little bit, you know,

an art for them as well. And they have to know how to pretend it's the first time they've heard these questions. Or not give a canned answer, you know, down a row, always give this a genuine honest thought. So I think when they're bigger names, not that they mean more or anything to me, but I think just the way they've had repetition and they understand the game, I think those can be a little more fun. You mentioned Rhonda and Connor. How much has, have they changed the course of your career? Oh my God.

Like a million. I would not, I can confidently tell you that I would not be in the position I'm in with my career if it weren't for Rhonda and Connor and, you know, the Fratitas and Dana and everybody being willing to allow me to work. But people like Rhonda and Connor and even Brock Les and. because that got a huge pop when we worked together was that they didn't judge me based on my age or my gender or, you know, my background. They just judged me on how that conversation was for them.

And, you know, the first time I ever worked with any of them, it went so well that they always wanted to work with me moving forward. And that's the highest honor. And to be able to be a part of, you know, their career journeys and say, oh, I interviewed Rhonda before she even signed with UFC and then I interviewed her, you know, for her very last fight and after in her retired UFC life, it means a lot because those interviews get eyeballs. And to be the person asking the questions and giving these athletes the platform to show their best selves, I mean, that means the world to me. And without being able to do big interviews, I probably

would not be in the position I'm in with the UFC or maybe even with the NFL. So do you feel like early on that they were like, it was obviously, they were testing this out. So they put a lot of trust in you. And then you took the ball and you ran with that. Yeah. Yeah, I like that. I like to get the ball. I like the pressure on me.

I like surprising people and over delivering on their expectations. For me, there's really something to be said for that. That's why I take a lot of pride in the broadcast that we do and the fact that we don't have teleprompters. And they, you know, will load me with, hey, do. you're going to have 10 memorized hits throughout the night and, oh, we're going to add one more random one in and just kill it. And I know that I can. And there's a sense of pride. There's a lot of things I can't do. Right. And like, I'm not going to go hit a home run and I'm not going to get into the octagon and fight. And I'm, you know, not going to do a lot. And I'm, you know, not going to do a lot. And knowing that the pressure falls on me and it's, it's up to me and that people believe I can do it. But then, you know, when I sort of can exceed those expectations, it means a lot. I've always loved your exchanges with Kabib. He's the best. Because, you know, there's a bit of a language barrier.

Yeah. So, like, there was one where you were like, oh, yeah, I'm hungry. Or that makes me hungry. Thank you. Yeah. That night was the craziest night ever. What people don't realize is that was, I think it was a real feel of like 130 degrees. So, and it was wild.

The humidity was like 80%. I had to blow dry my hair twice during live broadcast because it was like, you thought I jumped in a swimming pool. And by the end of the night, everybody was just so dead. I had no, I was like incoherent. I ended up being like deathly ill the next day. I know he had no idea what was going on. And so now we're just like, what was that? I don't even, like, I couldn't even remember that conversation in real life if there wasn't video of it. Thank you. It's like, okay. Yeah. Yeah, moving on. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. If we take this way back, you went to school for political science. I did, yeah.

What did you think you were going to pursue for a career? I don't know why I thought I was going to do this, but I thought I was going to manage political campaigns. Okay. Yeah. Still could one day, maybe. No, I definitely would never. Put the media spin on it. I would die.

Yeah, it was weird. I went to college for it. I also had thought about going to law school after that. And I just really enjoyed learning about, you know, the political landscape of our country and just not just how it was at modern times, but how it was formed in the history of it and everything. But yeah, then I quickly found out or realized in my brain that sports broadcasting was a real possibility. It wasn't like I didn't think I could do it.

I literally never thought of it as an option. And I was a diehard Yankees fan, diehard Giants fan. I grew up watching sports. My household was very sports dominated. And I don't know why I never considered it. I genuinely don't because I would say. sidelines reporters or people calling games and I just never put two and two together. So once I did realize that when, you know, towards the end of my college career, I was like,

oh, yeah, that seems like way more fun. And so I got my master's at Fordham to make sure I had a degree to back up what I wanted to do. But then it seems like a long shot. Like it's not like there's a ton of sports reporting jobs out there. Yeah. No. And for the jobs that do exist, there's a thousand people that want that one job.

Exactly. And I think that was for me part of the reason I wanted to get a degree to be able to say like, hey, this helps me stand out from the pack. But then the other thing that really helped was like, I just started from the very bottom of the barrel. And that was literally being people's interns, getting coffee, printing out scripts and working crazy hours. Like I was a senior in college and I worked a morning show. So I would take the 412 a.m. train from my college campus to New York City. I would work. And then I would come home on like a two something train and then go to classes all afternoon and evening. I love a story. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean,

I mean, I was, I was going to the train station sometimes straight from like a party. You know, because the senior. But, yeah, I mean, it was just how can I set myself apart? So it was about getting good grades. And for me, education is a huge thing. But it was also about having real, real world hands-on experience. And then just not thinking I was better than anything. Like, no, of course I'll get you coffee.

How do you take it? You know what I mean? Like, that's part of the, for me, the journey was like learning every single step of the way. And I think that's why I have so much appreciation for people around us, whatever role they're in, because I've done a lot of them. And, you know, sometimes they are thankless jobs. But we need all of them. You know, so it was really about, like, what can I do to stand apart? And a lot of it was education and work experience. I think we often hear the advice in broadcasting or even give the advice in broadcasting of like, go get real world experience. Yeah. That is so much easier said than time.

Oh, my God. A thousand percent. How did you get your foot in the door? Yeah, well, I applied to, so when I was a political science major, I applied to all these different news networks, congressman's offices, just tons of places, wherever I thought I could somewhat use what I was learning in the classroom in the field. And the only people that responded to me because I started at the beginning of my sophomore year, where I should say the summer prior to my sophomore year. So I hadn't even started my sophomore year in college or that education journey. and I was like already trying to get hands-on experience. And only a couple of places responded to me and they're like, hey, we only take seniors.

That's another thing is we're telling college kids to get experience. But then it's like, oh, you have to wait until your senior year when that's not always doable either. So the places that responded, I got somebody was like, hey, we don't take sophomores, but you seem like you're really gung-ho about this. So come on in. And then I just never really stopped. I also worked a part-time job because I needed money. so I was interning school and having a job as well.

What was the part-time job? I worked in retail. Yeah. So I just worked at like a really boogey mall in New Jersey. It was sick. But yeah. So it was just about like nonstop movement. But it's not easy to get those opportunities.

And I feel bad. I get a lot of DMs now. Like, hey, can I intern for you? And like, I would love you to is the thing. But, you know, now there's a lot of rules where you have to either get paid a certain amount or you have to be given official college. credit. The UFC itself is an incredible intern program. But like, Megan O'Leavy would love to have an intern and like help you, but I can't. You know, so I think there's, there's just a lot of different

avenues. But I would say like just keep applying and even places you think like, I don't want to work there. It's not about wanting to work there. It's about learning what you like and what you don't like and getting the experience involved. And I can speak from experience here, being behind the scenes and knowing what a VTR operator does or an auto. the other person does or a floor director, it makes you appreciate that so much more when you've been in every single one of those roles. A thousand percent. And I also think for talent, if your dream is to be on air, you will be the best version of

yourself. If you understand everything that's going on behind the scenes and you can self-produce. If you had to shoot your, that sounds weird. If you had to shoot the segment yourself, you would know how to shoot it. You would know what B-roll to get. You would know, hey, this stand-up is going to look better over here. If you know what 70 time code is. Oh, God.

Exactly. Taking us way back here. And I always, everybody that ever asked me like, hey, I want to be on camera, I want to be on camera and be a sports reporter. My advice is always to learn every role you can behind the scenes because that will make you the best talent that there is. Yeah. And you also might realize that, hey, maybe you're a better producer or editor or any other job. And maybe you like that more. Yeah.

You know, because I think a lot of people think being on camera is like just glamorous and easy. But it also comes with like the critical parts too. You know, it's not easy. It's high pressure. But if something goes wrong, whether it's your fault or not, you're the one on camera and you're going to get the heat for it. And that's a lot for people sometimes. So I think exploring those other roles also opens up a world that you might not have known existed prior to. When did you start to learn to block out the criticism?

Because, you know, it's inevitable with the position that you're in. I'm sure every time you're on camera, it's just a flood of tweets, and I'm sure not all of them are nice. Yeah, I mean, I'm fortunate that the majority of the time, they're all really kind. But when there is one that is not great, that's what sticks with you. And to this day, I still struggle with it. I'd be lying if I said I didn't. I mean, I try to ignore things, and I can ignore, like, a lot, unfortunately, if I do get criticism, sometimes it's like people just don't like how I look or my outfit or whatever.

a lot easier to ignore. I'm fortunate that there's not a lot that comes from my work or my intelligence, because I think that if there ever is a comment in that regard, that's where it sort of stings. And so I wish I could say, like, I'm amazing at blocking that out. I'm pretty good at it, but I'm still human. And there are days where you're just like, shoot, but I can tell you, like, nobody will ever be a harsher critic on me than I am on myself. And to a detriment sometimes. but I think it's what keeps me going every week and, you know, has me like trying to be the best version of myself is that I strive for perfection. And you can never get that in live TV. No, and you also have to realize that like once it's done, it's done.

There's nothing you can do to change that. Exactly. Especially when it's live TV. Exactly. Yeah. It's happened. It's out there and it's on to the next hit. Exactly.

You have to put it behind you. Even like this weekend, I had hits that were not perfect. There was actually a lot that went on behind the scenes as well. We did not notice it. Oh, thanks. Yeah, but it was like, oh, that hit was terrible. But, okay, there's nothing I can do. I have one on the next fight and I just have to move on.

Yeah. And then we keep referencing last weekend. And for everybody, that was Colby and Jorge Mosvedo. Yes, UFC 272. Yeah. So this might come out in a week or two. Oh, yeah. So now everybody knows.

So now people know. Yeah. So what was the first paying broadcasting job for you? So that's a good question. Well, I think the very first one, I was hired to do like sidelines for college lacrosse. Um, couple hundred dollars, some rural New Jersey, like middle of the state, didn't know anything about lacrosse. It was like, okay, if you're going to give me a shot, I'm going to try. I tried to learn everything I could.

I did halftime interviews and game breaks and stuff. And it wasn't great, but it certainly was an opportunity and one that I didn't just think like, oh, well, I'll just wing it. I never do that. even no matter how well I know somebody or how well I think I know something, I can never operate like that. So I worked really hard at it. And they went good enough that it moved on to other opportunities and more and more. But I think that was my first paying broadcast job. Yeah. How did you first find out about this UFC opportunity? So I, that's a good question. So I worked in New York City. And I was going to grad school, was interning and working. And, um, I was,

And my boss there was sort of connected in the UFC world. And then I just started meeting people, some of my neighbors in my neighborhood, alternating to Henzo Gracies. So I would just like go here. You know, I'd go to dinner one night and I'd meet some people and go out one night and meet others or I'd be at work and be introduced to someone. And it just so happened that a group of people I was, I had met at like a video game party, I think. eventually we're like, hey, we have room for talent.

We're starting this new pre and post show for the UFC. It was actually UFC sponsored before they had a TV deal. And they're like, we're going to have Dave Farah host who is still one of my closest friends today and such a talent in this world. And they're like, hey, Dave Farah is going to host. We're looking for a co-host. My brother is a very talented wrestler. I come from a family of wrestlers and combat sports athletes. you're like, do you think you could do it? I'm like, okay. So I just said, yeah, like, I probably was not ready and I, you know, probably should have like been more concerned, but I'm like, yeah, I think I can. And I just worked super hard at it. And so we for like a year or two, might even been three years, we had this official pre and post show for the UFC, which was very cool. All pay per views. We traveled the world and did them for the company. And then once they got their TV deal is when I sort of moved over to working with Fox and a little bit more on the TV side. But yeah, the first, the first, the first, the first.

First opportunity was with a company called Heavy, who did the pre-impos show. Heavy.com, right? Yeah. Yeah. What was your first memory of watching a UFC fight? Well, I remember watching Chuck and Tito, like in someone's basement a long time ago. That's where I watched it. Yeah, yeah.

I remember watching Matt. And then honestly, I didn't have, like, a lot. I feel like I saw a couple, I feel like I saw a couple of Randy Couture fights because of the wrestling tie-in. A lot of people that were in my life and my family. family's life, you know, new Randy or whatever it may be. So I remember watching some of his fights, but I didn't have a ton of exposure to just the sport. I had a ton of exposure to boxing, kickboxing, and wrestling, but not the sport of mixed martial arts or the organization of the UFC.

So probably not until I actually got the opportunity presented to me, not that I had had the job yet, is when I started diving in and being like, okay, what is going on here? Let me make sure I know what's going on. I knew a ton of the guys from like NZAA wrestling and like, oh, okay, I know this guy and that guy, but, you know, understanding the rule set and how the organization worked and everything, that was like a lot of studying and a lot of work to make sure I knew what the heck was going on. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens, which is a super important part of my morning routine. With one scoop of athletic greens, you get 75 high quality vitamins, whole food, source superfoods, and probiotics to help you start your day.

Right. This special blend of ingredients supports your gut health, your nervous system, your immune system, your energy, recovery, focus, aging, all the things. And best of all, it tastes amazing. And it's really helped with better sleep quality and recovery for me. Whether you eat keto, paleo, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, whatever it is, it fits right into your diet. Look, lots of people take some kind of multivitamin. And I think it's important to choose one with high-quality ingredients. that your body will actually absorb. That's why I drink athletic greens every morning. And that's why it's recommended by professional athletes in all kinds of different sports. Right now, it's time to reclaim your health and arm your immune system with convenient daily nutrition, especially since it's cold and flu season right now. It's just one scoop in a cup of water every day. That's it.

No need for a million different pills and supplements to look out for your health. And to make it easy, athletic greens is going to give you a free, one-year-old. year supply of immune supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athletic greens.com slash insight. Again, that's athletic greens.com slash insight to take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. Athletic Greens. I think it's absurd, but I'm sure you get flak sometimes because you're not an MMA fight.

Right. I think that's so ridiculous. No, it's sort of insane. Because we're broadcasters. We're watching the fight on a broadcast. In other sports, I mean, Aaron Andrews, Joe Buck, they're not like, they don't have field experience, you know? Yeah. But it's about being able to, for me, give our athletes a platform with my questions, but also know how to tell their stories.

And it is not my job to break down fights. It is not my job to analyze what's happening in there. Now, if I needed to add to the commentary team and it was a lot of storyline and stuff like that, I could certainly do it and I would love to do it. But it's not my job to be in there as a, you know, a former fighter or anything. That's where someone like Nisha Tate, she can step in. She's done commentary for us before and other organizations like, she's a former UFC champion. She gets it.

She can speak to that in volumes. But it's my job to tell the stories. And I think that's like something that's really important about the world of broadcasting. if you want to be in it, is knowing what your role is and not trying to overstep and show, because I know a lot, but it doesn't mean I always have the opportunity to show them what I know or tell them what I know. That's not what it is. It's about the athletes. And so to know what that role is and my role is not to, you know, come in there being a fight expert because I will never be. I am not a UFC champion. I'm not a UFC contender. I will not relate to them in that regard,

but I am married to a fighter and I know what stories I wanted to be told about him. And I know how hard these athletes work and who they are as human beings and to be able to give them the platform to tell their stories or to help me tell them. That's what my job is. I love that you're saying storyteller because that is the job of a broadcaster. And I don't know if everybody realizes that. And the thing that fascinates me the most is you and I could have some crazy thing happen to us today. And when we go back and tell our friends and family about it, our version of the story will be

slightly different in the way that we tell it. And I think that it's, that's what's really exciting about broadcasting. It's telling a story in the most informative and entertaining way. Exactly. Exactly. And there are 700 fighters on our roster and every single one of them. And you name all of them. No, God. And every single one of them have a unique story because you don't get there, you know, because your life was perfect. So they all have so much that is worth telling. And my, goal is to always give people a reason to care. You might not know anything about fighting. You might not even like watching the sport. But if you can care about them as a human being, then I've done my job. Did you ever think you'd be married to a fighter? No, my God, no. I never thought, like I said,

I grew up in a house of wrestlers and, you know, combat sports athletes. And I never dated anybody that wrestled or fought or anything. I was like, no. And then I met my husband. I was like, oh, God, this is the best. What changed? What was it different here? He's different. He's not your typical fighter. He is just the best. Anybody that knows Joe or has gotten to work with Joe as an athlete, like absolutely

adores him. He's funny. He's smart. He's just like a sweetheart. And you would never know what he did. He just recently retired. But you would never know what he did for a living, ever. Like you would never guess in a million years that he was a fighter if you just met him

on the street. And then when he was fighting, he was always just so good to be around. He never got crissed. rabby or mean or anything. He's just, he's just the best. And so it, it just ended up working out perfectly. What's it going to be next for him? Like, retiring at this age, it always sounds so strange. Yeah. But what's going to be next? Well, it's a good question. He, so Joe is not your typical fighter. He is an artist, honestly. He loves the arts. He is the guy who go to the museum in every city he goes to. He loves culture and art, restaurants, travel. So he actually

loves film and he just started a podcast called The Ultimate Film Club. So UFC but in a different way. And he brings in like one of his famous fighter friends or journalist friends or somebody who's on TV and they talk about a specific movie. I'm such

a huge film fan. Yeah. So I need to have him on the show. You have to so we can talk about film and his podcast. Yeah. So he doesn't have to talk to me about them. Because I like, I like watch like trash TV and like bro, I don't know what you're saying. Like I'll listen to you but like I can't Are they on selling sunset?

Yeah, right. Exactly. Exactly. I did bring him in the gutter with me. He watches some of the shows. That show is so good. I'm addicted to that show. So is it going to, do you think he'd ever make a film?

I don't know. I think maybe, I think there's a lot of things that Joe could do, honestly. And I'm not just saying that because I'm his wife. I think he would be an amazing clothing designer or stylist. He plans the greatest trips of all time, like down to the second. I mean, he could tell you the best coffee shopping. in like a little town in Mexico to go to. He could be incredible planning itineraries,

but I think movies is really like where his heart is. He loves to kind of escape into that world of film for a couple of hours and then discuss and digest everything that happened. So I don't know if he'd make one, but I certainly could see him working on a film one day. I feel like with you being in UFC for so long, you've seen so many different changes. Yeah.

What do you think has been the biggest shift that you've seen? I think now the mainstream acceptance is there. And I don't think it really was there even a couple of years ago. And I don't know if that has to do with COVID when we were the only sport that kept going. And now we sort of got a new audience. UFC thrived through the pandemic. Yeah. And I think we proved like, hey, this is a real thing. Look at our production value. Look at the level of our athletes. Look at the stories we have to tell. I think all of that really helps. You know, I'm certainly, I can't speak for the company. But, In my observation, I think that's when things really started to change just a couple of years ago. I really think Ronda had a lot to do with that as well, having women in there, sort of getting the mainstream, like being on Ellen and these late night talk shows and people who might not know those three letters are now understanding what it is. And then Connor and, you know, there's people playing Connor McGregor on S&L. Like that's a huge deal, you know, that's opening new doors.

And I think sort of since Rhonda, it's gotten bigger and bigger. But I would say even during the pandemic, I think it exploded. and people started to take us more seriously and treat us with the respect we've always deserved. And our athletes have always, always, always deserved from day one. And now they're starting to get it. And I also think that Joe Rogan's helping that a lot now, too. Like he always lent a ton of credibility to it.

But now with Joe Rogan being the huge name that he is now, I think that people that are podcast fans like to tune into UFC and be like, that's my guy. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Oh, Rogan's the best. Yeah. What's he like in real life? He's great.

I mean, the thing that I can say about Joe is he believes in all of us. Like, we're genuinely the four of us, like a great little family. It's Daniel Cormier, John, Annick, Joe Rogan, and myself. We're the four broadcasters on paper views. We travel the world together. We experience all these different things, you know, in our personal lives, and our professional lives altogether. And the thing that Joe doesn't probably even realize that he does for me is that he, like,

believes in me. and he believes in women in the sport. And he always has like, he just treats me like everyone else. He doesn't treat me like, oh, she's just the reporter. Or he doesn't treat me like this fragile thing. Like, we're equal all the way through. And he's got daughters. And so I think he understands, like, Megan shouldn't be taken any less seriously

or be treated any differently than, you know, I'd want my daughters. And he's just such an advocate for all of us. And he being there obviously raises our profile as well because he's Joe Rogan. but I think like he does so much for me that he might not even realize just by his actions and you know he'll pull me aside and just be like you're the fucking best you know and like that means something when anyone tells you but when someone of his caliber you know in the media world tells you that it's like all right all right I'm kind of good early on when he would like calm moves before they would happen it was just brilliant to see yeah now the entire

commentary team does that like when Bisbing's doing that The D.C. is doing that. Yeah. But that just shows how smart those guys are. Yeah, 100%. I mean, they're world champions for a reason. So it's great to have these former world champions who can relate on an athletic level, a personal level.

They can say, hey, I remember for my title fight, I've had these struggles. You know, and I think that's what makes our broadcast team so great. John Anick is our fearless leader. He is so intelligent, so well versed, so well studied. He raises all of our broadcasting bar. then Joe and whoever, you know, the fighter commentator is, they just, they have so much that they can share about the sport and about, you know, their personal journeys that it really just, it rounds us out. It makes it like a great circle of broadcasting.

What's it like working for Dana White? I mean, I feel like he's this enigba. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely interesting. Um, but I mean, he finds a way. I mean, like, look what happened with COVID. People were making fun of Fight Island. the concept of Fight Island. And then we really did Fight Island. And everyone, everyone would be like, what's Fight Island? Like, it was kind of amazing. Who else can do that?

You know, I understand that the NBA had their bubble, but that was well after what we were doing. And he made it work. Okay, there's not an option here. We're going to go over here. And even when we came back, the way they did testing and the way they did our bubbles here, I mean, he finds a way. And that's why the UFC is where it is.

I mean, he has not been afraid to take chances. and take risks or do things that other people might call absurd and impossible. He's like, no, I'm going to show you. And it's cool. It's great to have that as a leader because then that's how I feel too. Like, okay, well, watch me. You know what I mean? Like, oh, you think we can't do it?

Watch us. Yeah. What do you think is the biggest thing you've learned from Dana, whether it's advice he's actually told you or just something that you've watched him do? I think it's by watching him. Like I said, I think it's the fear doesn't hold him back. Like I'm sure there's times where he's worried if things are going to work out.

But he bets on himself and he bets on his people. And I think that's really, for a lot of us, a great example. And it shows us, you know, hey, we're just as good or we can do this. And I think something he kind of drives home in a lot of our company meetings is like, I have the best people in the world working for me. And I truly believe that. I mean, we don't have that many employees. It's a very young company.

I think that it's just crazy. 25 years is a young company. Exactly. Yeah, but I mean, like the actual employees are all very young as well, you know, their mid-30s and under are most of our employees. And so I think even as a broadcaster, it gives me the confidence like, I know I can do the NFL sidelines because that doesn't require nearly as many, you know, memorized hits or anything that I'm doing for the UFC. I think if you put John Anakin in an NFL booth to call a game, he could do it in a second.

I think if you put Daniel Cormiere in an NFL booth, he could call a game in a So I think we have the confidence knowing how talented we are because of the opportunities we have, but because of the confidence he has in us too. How did you get this opportunity with the NFL? Yeah. Honestly, Fox has just been amazing. We used to have a partnership. The TV deal was originally with Fox, UFC and Fox.

And I would say like maybe four years into the deal, might have been four or five years into it. You know, I was the reporter for them and on big fights. and I got a call saying like, hey, we're going to give you an opportunity if you want it to do two NFL games, sort of a tryout. We'll see how you do. And we'll go from there. And I, of course, had to get the UFC's permission. And Dana could not have been more supportive or more proud that I had that opportunity. And I think they called me like 10 days before the first game.

The first game was a New York Giants game. And I grew up. I were a Giants fan. So I did the game and it went pretty well. It did post-game interview with Eli Manning, and I used to wear in Eli Manning, Jersey, all around college. So, like, you know, that for me was huge. And then I had a game the next week, and they were like, hey, here's some more games. And it just never stopped.

They gave me that opportunity. They saw what I did for EFC, and they didn't think it was just relegated to, you know, combat sports. Hey, she can, she's a good broadcaster. And that's, you know, that means so much to me. So to grow into the position with the NFL and Fox that I am in now is, I mean, there's nothing like it because even the smallest game of the week, we'll call it, is still a huge deal.

And I'm still on an NFL sideline on Sunday and I do not take that for granted. Like to me, that it means the world. I mean, it's America's sport. There's only 17 of them. Yes. Yes. Well, in playoffs, but. Yes. And it's, I mean, it matters. So sometimes I'd be taking a red eye from a fight

on Saturday night into a game on Sunday morning, going right to the field and talking to players to make sure I have the most up-to-date information. But that gives me like so much confidence because it's while I I take so much and I feel like my role with UFC is so dynamic and amazing to know that like people are just watching on a Sunday see you as well and they recognize that I mean for some reason it just resonates different with people yeah wow so where does it go from here because you know many people are listening to this right now going

man I want your job yeah you know how badly I would do anything to have your job yeah yeah no I'm super fortunate. I mean, I want to keep doing what I'm doing, and then some. I want to be the best storyteller there is. I very much look up to someone like Tom Rinaldi, and I hope that I can one day be, you know, like him. His E-60 stories. Oh, my God. I think everyone, he makes me cry. Oh, shut out. But, yeah, no. But, yeah, no, I mean, I just want to be the best storyteller, and whether that means producing shows and not just, you know, not being talent, but just, producing and being able to tell these stories. I mean, I still would really love to also do some sort of morning show as well.

But I don't think that there's a reason to ever have to step away from the roles I do on the weekends. I just want to fill my weekdays a little bit more. Yeah. Oh. What's the best UFC moment you've been caged side for? Because you've been there for all the big ones, I feel like. Yeah. That's a great question.

And I always, I try to think about this. And I feel like the other day I had a perfect dancer and now it's out of my brain. I think there's a few. The one that's most recent is the Yawanna Wayla fight. That is one of the greatest fights in UFC history. It was a women's fight, which makes it even cooler, honestly, because women have not even been fighting for a decade in the UFC. That was one of them.

But I think probably the most, most recent, and it's not an actual fight, but when we brought fans back for the first time in Jacksonville, that night was so special for all. of us. Like, all of us cried. The building was packed from the first moment. There's a little, there's a little sort of jingle that plays before they play the intro to the fight. And they played it for the first one. And the crowd went insane. I literally have chills thinking about it. And I just remember feeling so grateful that we had some semblance of normalcy after what all of us as a world had

gone through and that we could just come together for this night and this sporting event. And we were the ones who got to tell those stories. And we were the ones who got to be there that night. Like, that will sit with me forever. I mean, the feeling of it will not go away as soon as I recall it and like, oh my gosh, I'm transported back. That was just so special because you just felt like you were helping the world move on a little bit. What do you think is the hardest part about your job that most viewers never see? Oh, the balance. The hardest part of my job on Fight night is the balance because, and then certainly the balance going from a fight to an NFL game and being equally prepared for them as well.

Yeah. But people don't realize, like, we're communicating with ESPN the whole time about, hey, we're going to need this. We need you on set for the poster for this. We need this post-fight interview. If you have time, can you grab this person? We need an update. So we're in constant communication.

I have anywhere between, like, I don't know, five to 15 hits to memorize a night. And you can't just memorize 15 at a time. You have to kind of do them one by one. And so you're always doing that. You're taking notes on the fight that's happening because you have to interview the winner. So the amount of balance that goes into them, sometimes I'm interviewing someone during a fight. Like, I was doing an interview as the very beginning of the first round of Mazvedal and Covington happened. So I had to go back on my phone during the break between rounds and make sure that I saw what was going on.

So I can have that experience. So it's about the balance and being able to give as much respect. time to every single thing that you are asked to do on that evening because it's impossible to just do one thing. It's, it's 15 things we have to do a night and do them all well. And then I'm sure there's times when you're preparing, watching a fight, and then boom, the fight's over in five seconds. Uh-huh. Yeah. And it's like, oh, we need to get in a position right now. Right, right, right. And that happens a lot. Or, you know, again, with live TV, like so many things change. We just, just this past weekend, um, again, UFC 270,

I had to do a hit and we had it all. We rehearsed it. I had my spot marked. We knew where we were going and they're like, oh, we can't go over there. You have to go to the other vom. So we're like running. And then there's all these people there. We have to get security. I have just a few seconds. I toss to the feature that I did. And then we're quick letting all these celebrities,

you know, come by. And then, okay, she's about to be live again. We stopped traffic. There's Joe Rogan stuck behind a security guard waiting for me to finish my hit. But he's got to get back to his seat at the octagon. So it's just, there's, there's just so much that goes into it. And sometimes they'll be like, you're not taking it from John. You're taking it from commercial or tossed to the desk. And that's, that's mid sentence, you know, so you just, you just have to go with it. You just can't, like, be flustered because it doesn't matter. And there's something about the energy in the building. Like, I've been so fortunate to go to several fights, but so many of my

friends are huge UFC fans and they've never been in the building. What do you think it is? I don't know, but I think we do our in-house show probably better. than anybody, maybe in all of sports. There's so much that you will never see on TV that happens in-house. It's a long day. I will say that for people. It's a long day. If you plan on going for the pre-fights all the way to the main event.

It's a long day. Commitment. Yes. A lot of beers. It's sort of like a sporting event slash concert sometimes, the way it feels with the energy. Because a lot of times other organizations will sort of neglect their in-house. and they'll play some stuff here and there, but they're not trying to keep you riveted. Yeah, it's a TV show for them.

Yes. I often say that that's unfortunately what WWE is like sometimes. It's a TV show. And when they go to commercial break, it just goes black and you're like, well, no, I remember that. The first time I went to a WWWE show,

I felt like that. I was like, oh, I'm sort of bored. And then out of nowhere, someone's entrance music hits, and you're like, oh. And I guess we're back. Yeah, we don't have that. Yeah.

We don't have that at UFC. We're constantly keeping people entertained, there's something to watch, there's music to listen to, it is very much like a party vibe when it is not an actual fight occurring. Yeah. What are three things you would say to an aspiring broadcaster who wants to have your job one day?

What do they need to do? Okay. Great question. Number one, just work really hard. And I don't necessarily means that, I don't believe that means you have to get a degree in something. I don't necessarily think you have to intern. But whatever you're doing, like work as,

hard as possible at it. The second thing and most important thing is treat people well. People might not remember how your hits were or how talented you were, but they will certainly remember how you treated people. And if you can just keep that in mind and treat people the way you want to be treated because you're not always going to be treated well if you're just getting coffee for people or you're just, you know, printing out scripts. But if you want to be treated better, like start with yourself and start by treating everyone around you with respect and dignity and kindness. That's by far my best advice. And then don't, don't be afraid to like start at the very lowest level. I think, unfortunately, with the world of YouTube and

social media, sometimes people think it's, it starts here. But really, it starts way down here. And even those people who are finding success on YouTube and social media, they probably did a ton of work to get there. You're just not seeing that part of the iceberg, as people say. So, I believe like, you know, if it's just digital content and you don't like the sport, like I said, I started with lacrosse in the middle of New Jersey and it was on a digital provider, all right, well, that wasn't certainly my dream, but it was a step. And it was a step in the right direction. You know, you have to get those reps and that experience to continue to grow and build because doing things the right way will make your success easier. And it will make those times

where you finally get the opportunity to be on a live broadcast on TV, you'll be ready for that because you took the proper steps to get there. And it's a lot easier to make mistakes when less people are watching. If you're getting your foot in the door in the UFC or the NFL and you're making those mistakes in front of millions of people, so it's a lot tougher than making them on the sidelines of a lacrosse game in a small town. Yeah, give yourself the best chance for success. And that is all by hard work treating people right and starting with the right steps,

Not just believing, hey, I got my master's. I shouldn't have to do this low-level stuff. No, you still do. Those are three great pieces of advice. Thanks. I have loved this conversation. Me too. It's so great picking your brain.

I always love talking to fellow broadcasters. I end every conversation with the same question because I love gratitude. I start and end every day. Yes. Saying out loud three things I'm grateful for. So, Megan, what are three things in your life you're grateful for right now? Well, number one, my health. I think in these uncertain times, it's something.

we can't take for granted. We just had a good friend pass away at, you know, not even 40 years old. And I think when you can, when you can remember, hey, I have my health, my husband has his health, my parents have their health. That is such, there's nothing more important than that. Everything else is easy to navigate around, but having your health is incredible. So I'd say that. I'd certainly say my family. I have an amazing family, an amazing husband, even my dog is the best. And it's like, what's your dog's name? Benny. Benny.

Yeah, he's the best. Health family and probably just opportunities. I don't take for granted that I have great opportunities. I have great relationships and I'm able to do things that I've only dreamed about. And I don't take that for granted. I love, like you said, starting every day and ending every day with gratitude because if you don't have gratitude, you don't know why you're doing things and it's easy to get jaded and do things for the wrong reason. But if you can find the gratitude in every day, even if it's like, hey, the fact that I'm alive is what I'm grateful for.

for today, it's all right. I love that because no day's perfect. But I would say that there's always good moments in every day. Exactly. And if you can be grateful for those moments, it's really difficult to be angry when you're being grateful. 100%. There's always something to be grateful for.

I'm going to ask you the toughest question now. No. What is your favorite UFC match of all time? Probably Whaley and Yawanna. Okay. Yeah. I would say that's probably my favorite match. But I will say Camaro versus Jorge on Fight Island.

because of the significance of that, because we knew the world was watching and we're in this weird bubble that like we're all just playing it by ear every day. Where were you? If we paused the video, where were you when the Connor melee went down there, that whole thing? I was actually walking backstage. Okay. So, because I have to get ready for all the interviews that happened afterwards. So I was fortunate. I was not octagon side for that. All of my friends were all my colleagues.

I know I was very fortunate. I sort of had the aftermath of interviewing everybody and getting everybody's sides. And then we're seeing replays from different cameras and like, oh, well, that's a little different. Well, that's not what you said. But yeah, no, I was, uh... It's not actually your help in there, sir. I was very safe. Thank God.

Good. Megan, thank you so much. Thank you. You're great. You should have a podcast. The way you do. We should have your husband in here next. Please do.

You think you know someone that could make that happen? I think so. There we go. Isn't she awesome? Thank you to Megan for joining us. Thank you, as always, for being with us inside the Blue Wire Studios at Win Las Vegas for this conversation. And if you enjoyed it, I'd be honored. If you would share this online, share this with a friend, let them know about it. I'm sure you have lots of friends who are UFC fans.

And take a screenshot so we can reshare this. Megan is at Megan O'Levy if you tag her. And I am at Chris Van Fleet. And we'll leave you with the very wise words. from Babe Ruth, who said, never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. Be great. Be grateful.

Have an amazing day. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock, but there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley?

How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987. I can't believe he's doing this.

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