Decorated MMA Fighter and bare-knuckle boxer BEC RAWLINGS is the star of a poignant new doco tracing her remarkable story in and out of the cage. MAXIM chats with her to find out why she decided to reveal the darkest moments of her life on screen…
Bec Rawlings is ready to go there. When we talk, the legendary MMA fighter turned bare knuckle boxer has just attended the premiere of a new documentary on her life and is in fine form. Titled Fight to Live, the doco is a gripping look at a young woman’s journey from victim to conqueror; from a troubled young kid in Launceston to some of the highest heights in MMA and on the UFC circuit.
As she reveals in the film, Rawlings was a self-described troubled kid who grew up in Launceston before moving to Brisbane in her early 20s to pursue MMA fighting. What followed was a seven-year run on the international circuit fighting in the strawweight and flyweight divisions before switching to bare knuckle boxing in 2019. Professionally, Rawlings is one of Australia’s most decorated mixed martial artists of all time but Fight to Live reveals the dark reality behind her adrenaline-pumping success in the cage.
For several years, she was subject to harrowing domestic violence at the hands of a former partner, an experience she recounts in unflinching detail in the film. “People are very shocked that I found myself in that situation. I’m the epitome of a strong woman,” she tells MAXIM somewhat matter-of-factly. “I literally fight anyone in cages. I know how to fight and that shows it can happen to anyone.”
Despite her persona as an outspoken warrior woman, Rawlings is a deeply private person at heart and the prospect of exposing one of the hardest chapters of her life on camera gave her pause. “I put out there what I want people to know,” she explains. “I’m still very outspoken online but I have to have something for myself.”
Mental strength is crucial to the success of fighters and Bec, a mum of two, says she must click into “fighter mode” every time she enters the ring. “I have to dial in and focus and switch from mummy mode to fighter mode,” she says. “I have a mantra that I go over in my head: six or seven words that make me really dial in.”
Rawlings tapped into those same techniques when tackling the more painful parts of her remarkable journey in Fight to Live. She credits her friend and the film’s director Tom Haramis for encouraging her to tell her story on screen and reveal a very painful experience previously unknown to anyone but her closest confidantes. “That interview I can remember intimately,” she says of the moment she reveals the domestic abuse on camera for the first time. “Tom got me to be open up and it was important that he was my friend and he trusted me.”
The cinematic release of Rawlings’ documentary coincides with a renewed national focus on the crisis of domestic violence in Australia. Shocking statistics reveal an entrenched crisis of women dying at the hands of their male partners at a rate of about one woman every four days. While newly announced financial support to help women flee abusive partners will help, Bec thinks a stigma remains around the scourge of domestic violence occurring behind closed doors. “I want to help empower people and it doesn’t mean you’re weak. Honestly, I hope I can help people get out of the same situation.”
Now screening in select cinemas nationwide, Rawlings hopes sharing her story inspires other women facing domestic violence that there is a way out. She also reveals tentative plans for a wider streaming release to take the project into Australian living rooms. Despite the serious subject matter, she insists the film is not designed to be a cautionary tale of domestic violence but rather a story of resilience and inspiration.
“The documentary is not all sad,” she explains. “We don’t want to depress people; we want to inspire them.”
FIGHT TO LIVE is now showing in select cinemas
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