UFC's Miesha Tate and Bryan Caraway advancing in careers, relationship

(This story appears in today’s edition of USA TODAY.)

TOKYO – Over the next two weeks, Miesha Tate and Bryan Caraway are taking part in potentially career-changing MMA bouts. Both agree the fights might not even provide the most memorable moment during that span.

“These next two weeks are pretty crazy crucial,” Caraway tells USA TODAY Sports and MMAjunkie. “Miesha is fighting Rin Nakai. She’s a very tough opponent who’s undefeated, and this is a huge win for her, as well, to keep her in title contention. I’m fighting Raphael Assuncao. He’s the No. 1-ranked guy right now who is the last person to beat (champion) T.J. Dillashaw – just recently, too.

“Then we’re also just finally buying a house in Vegas. It’s all happening in that two-week period, so it’s pretty surreal.”

While Caraway and Tate both compete for the sport’s premier organization, the UFC, they are linked together by something much more intimate: a romantic relationship that dates back to their college years at Central Washington University.

“He was my first introduction to MMA,” Tate says. “I’d never really heard of it before that. He gave me my introduction and taught me the first couple of grappling moves that I ever learned. He’s been there literally my whole career.”

Tate, 28, and Caraway, 30, have been an item for more than seven years, a span that has seen Tate grow from an MMA neophyte to one of the sport’s biggest stars. Caraway’s ascension has come at a more moderate pace, but with his position at No. 14 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA bantamweight rankings, he’s currently enjoying the most notoriety of his nine-year career.

“I’m proud of the fact that we’re the only couple that are in the UFC,” Tate says. “We’ve been together for a long time.”

Tate (14-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC), who is perhaps best known as UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey’s chief rival, faces Nakai (16-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at Saturday’s “UFC Fight Night 52: Hunt vs. Nelson” event at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Meanwhile, Caraway (19-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) faces Assuncao (22-4 MMA, 6-1 UFC) on Oct. 4 at “UFC Fight Night 54: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine” in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Despite his upcoming co-main event, Caraway will be in his traditional position in Tate’s corner on Saturday night. Tate admits both she and Caraway sometimes resist listening to each other’s advice in the gym, but come fight night, there’s no one they’d rather have offering coaching support.

“I think with anything, when you’re trying to work together and do something together, it can make it more challenging,” Tate says. “You have to really want to work hard and work toward the relationship. It can complicate things sometimes when you’re in the same field.

“It’s different when we’re actually cornering than when we’re in the gym atmosphere because that’s like a time of necessity. … We’ve kind of learned those balances, and we just respect each other’s boundaries. We have to communicate a lot to stay happy and healthy.”

While Caraway was the one who got Tate into the sport, it’s Tate who quickly skyrocketed to prominence, winning Strikeforce’s women’s bantamweight title in 2011 and becoming Rousey’s foil shortly thereafter. Caraway admits it was initially difficult to see.

“It was really hard for me, seeing her success,” Caraway admits. “I was always proud of her, but I was like, ‘Dang, why can’t I get a little slice of that cake?’ But it’s all good. I’m really proud of her. She works really hard. She works just as hard as I do, so I’m stoked for her.”

As the UFC’s roster continues to grow in both the male and female divisions – more than 500 fighters in all – more couples like Caraway and Tate are likely to make their way to the UFC. Of course, fighting takes a great degree of sacrifice, both for the fighters and those around them. While both admit there are moments of tension in their respective fight-prep processes, Tate said the level of understanding between the two goes a long way.

“That’s the one pro, I think, to being in a relationship with someone else who does what you do,” Tate says. “They understand the demands of the sport, so when I’m in camp, it’s all about me. And when he’s in camp, it’s all about him. I do whatever I can to make his life easier and vice versa. We just understand the amount of mental and emotional stress that goes into every camp and the exhausting feeling that you get.

“So understanding that, I feel like it’s a benefit whereas sometimes a significant other, if they haven’t been through it, you just don’t understand what a weight-cut feels like. You just don’t understand how crabby and grouchy you’re going to be. The fact that we can really understand each other at another level is really a benefit. When we’re in camp together, it’s easy because we’re both in the swing of things.”

So Tate and Caraway will each take center stage over the next two weeks. While Tate has already fallen short in her first bid for a UFC title, a win over the undefeated Nakai will keep her name at the top of the list of contenders for Rousey’s belt. Meanwhile, with a convincing win, Caraway could vault quickly to the list of available challengers for UFC bantamweight champ Dillashaw’s title.

Both are excited for the fights, but it’s their outside-the-cage plans that truly signify the next stage of life for the longtime couple.

“It feels good inside,” Caraway says. “It feels good for me knowing that man, ‘I’ve persevered through the tough times.’ I lived in an RV for two-and-a-half years out in the rain, and I sacrificed all this stuff. I sacrificed medical school, and it’s all paying off now.

“I feel like I’m finally becoming an adult. We’re getting a house. It’s like I’m growing up. It’s a pretty fulfilling time in my life.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 52 and UFC Fight Night 54, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.