I guess I am a little sexist. Never in a million years would I have ever expected this sort of crowd at a women’s sporting event –a crowd of both men and women all excitedly gathered around the cage chanting and shouting. This is just as crazy as one of my boxing matches would have been. “So,” I say, turning to Tyler, “have you ever been to one of these MMA things?”

“No, man, this is new for me,” Tyler retorts.

Bobby is sitting on the other side of Tyler. “Same here,” he shouts over the crowd.

“Move your ass!” I hear Marty screaming as he makes his way through the rows of seats towards us, his hands full of popcorn and drinks. He tosses me and Bobby our sodas and hands Tyler a beer before passing out the popcorn. “That line was fucking ridiculous.” He sits a bucket of beer down as he sits next to Bobby.

“Really, guys?” Bobby grumbles when Marty puts the bucket right in front of him.

“Look, if Jonathan is going to drag us to a chick’s sporting thing, I’m drinking,” Marty says smugly.

Tyler laughs, “This might actually be fun, Marty.”

“I’m sure it will be if I am drinking,” he says.

I shake my head. Laurel had invited me to this match; supposedly it’s supposed to be a good one. I told her I’d bring some friends, so here we are. “Laurel’s up first tonight, right?” Marty asks.

“Yeah,” I say.

“I can’t believe you’re banging the chick that almost got you fired,” Marty laughs.

“Please,” Tyler says, “You don’t know the half of it. She’s also the one who tossed him out on the street the night he got busted for trying to hire a hooker.”

“What the fuck, man?” Bobby laughs.

“Shut up, Tyler,” I say just as Laurel is coming out into the cage.

Her opponent is huge, and it makes me cringe. “There’s no way that bitch is in Laurel’s weight group,” Marty snarls.

“Laurel’s at the bottom of her weight group,” I say.

“That other chick looks like she could eat your girlfriend, man,” Bobby says.

The first round starts, and immediately I feel myself cringe. Boxing is brutal, but this shit is crazy. The woman gets Laurel up against the net and goes to town on her stomach; one punch is so harsh it causes Laurel to fall forward, and I see Marty, Tyler, and Bobby all jump in their seats. “Shit, man,” Tyler says under his breath.

Laurel throws the woman off of her and lunges like a damn bobcat. They wind up on the ground for a minute, and I catch myself standing up in order to keep a close eye on the match. The first round ends, and Laurel is covered in blood, and I don’t know if it’s hers or Big Foots. Round two starts, and Laurel has Big Foot on her toes; she’s kicking her ass, and I catch myself cheering along with the guys.

Then the bitch punches Laurel in the back of the head –hard –sending her down to the ground. The whole crowd starts booing, and the ref makes her back up. Laurel gets back on her feet and shakes it off before continuing. “That was illegal, right?” Tyler asks, and I nod.

Third round; since it’s not a title match, this is the last. Thank God. I don’t know if I can watch this much longer. They wind up on the ground, but Laurel is on top. The guys and I cheer, along with a large portion of the crowd. Big Foot wraps herself around Laurel, and then I watch as Laurel stands with the woman hanging off of her. Laurel slams her down, and the woman lets go.

“Shit!” Bobby shrieks.

The woman jumps up, and the two continue swinging and punching like lunatics. Finally, Laurel gets a serious uppercut in, and she knocks the bitch out cold. The crowd loses their minds, and I sink down in my seat with my eyes wide. Laurel is covered in blood from her face down to her stomach. Is this how Brandi would always feel during my matches?

Once the match is over and Laurel is declared victorious, Laurel disappears to the locker room. I wait outside the locker room; the guys are still in their seats watching the other matches. I wait for what feels like an eternity before she comes trotting out, cleaned up and wearing a fresh uniform that wasn’t drenched in sweat. She’s got a bandage taped to her chin, and her face is already bruising up. I cringe. She smiles at me through a slightly swollen lip. “What did you think?” she asks.

I blush. I don’t know what to say. I hated it! I hated watching it; it made me sick to my stomach. “Are you okay?” I ask.

She laughs at me. “I’m fine,” she says, “I’d be better if that cunt didn’t sock me in the back of the head, though.” She rubs the back of her head for a second; she has this happy smile on her face –clearly having just enjoyed herself, and she has no idea how torn up I am about it. She looks at me for a moment. “Jonathan, are you okay?”

I shake it off. “Sorry, I guess the whole thing just surprised me is all. I was worried about you.”

“Well, isn’t that sweet?” she says and gives me a kiss on the cheek. “I’m fine, Jonathan. I do this sort of thing all the time. You of all people should get that.”

“I know,” I say and put my arms around her waist.

We stay and watch the other matches; the guy’s head out on their own, and I go with Laurel back to her apartment once the night is over. I watch her in her kitchen as she puts on bandages. When she’s done she comes and sits by me on the couch. “You’re not going to be weird now, are you?” she asks. “Should I have not invited you?”

“Maybe not,” I say with a slight laugh. “Honestly, Laurel, I like you. I do. And so that really freaked me out tonight. It’s selfish, I know, but I really don’t want you to do that again. But I’d never ask you not to, you know? In fact, you can expect me at your matches again because I know you love it just like I love boxing, but hell, I guess I just never felt it from this perspective before.”

She laughs and kisses my head. “I’m going to bed. Are you coming with me or going back to Tyler’s?”

I smile. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute. I got to take care of something real quick.”

She nods and heads back to the bedroom. I take out my phone, and I call Brandi. As expected, I get her voicemail. “Hey, Brandi,” I say softly, “I get that you don’t want to talk to me still, but I just had something I wanted to tell you. Something happened tonight, and I just want to say I understand now. I understand why you didn’t want me to box, and I’m sorry. I’m not saying I’m sorry that I didn’t stop boxing when you wanted me to because that’s not it. I’m just sorry that I never… I guess that I never acted like I cared that you were worried about me. I get it now. You love me, or at least, you did then, and I worried you. I just always expected you to just smile and cheer me on and pretend it didn’t bother you, and that was wrong. I understand now, Brandi, and I’m so sorry.” I hang up the phone, and I go back to Laurel’s bedroom.

I spend the night curled up next to Laurel, kissing her bruises and telling her how amazing she is. I don’t know if I ever felt this way with Brandi. Maybe I did once, but I was such a different person then.