Brittney Palmer talks life as an Octagon girl, painting on the side and more

UFC Octagon girl and artist Brittney Palmer chats with Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole about her artwork and how she handles fight nights when her “family” is fighting inside the cage.

Video Transcript

KEVIN IOLE: Hey, folks, I am Kevin Iole from "Yahoo Sports," and I've had a slew of fighters, Dana White, everybody on, so I decided to go a little different way today. A familiar face no doubt, one you've seen. I can't believe it's been 12 years since the WEC days. Brittney Palmer Hi, Brittney, how are you?

BRITTNEY PALMER: Hi, I'm good. How are you?

KEVIN IOLE: I am doing awesome. I really appreciate you coming on. I guess the first thing I want to ask you-- what everybody else is talking about-- is "Tiger King." Are you watching?

BRITTNEY PALMER: I watched it. I finished it.

[LAUGHTER]

KEVIN IOLE: How long did it take you? I did it in two nights. How long did it take you to get it done?

BRITTNEY PALMER: Well, I'm trying to-- because I know we have time at home, so I don't want to just binge through it, because that's usually what I do when I don't have a lot of time. I'm like, OK, let me just just get done with it, and then I'll be done. But now, I kind of took my time, so I took about four days.

KEVIN IOLE: Four days. OK, so.

[LAUGHTER]

I know, after I watched that, I was like, now what after seeing that crazy thing.

BRITTNEY PALMER: "Ozark."

KEVIN IOLE: Have you watched that? A lot of people have recommended that to me.

BRITTNEY PALMER: I have. I've watched the first two seasons. I have like three episodes left on the third season.

KEVIN IOLE: Yeah, everybody keeps saying on Twitter. When I put out, I asked a question, what after "Tiger King," and they said, "Ozark." And everybody made the point, season three. Is it personally better than the other seasons?

BRITTNEY PALMER: Got to watch all of them. You have time. Got to watch the whole thing. And then "Mandalorian," I'm also watching that.

KEVIN IOLE: Oh, so Gina Carano, so we'll get a chance to see her in that. Well, let me ask you this. So I put a poll out on "Yahoo Sports," or on Twitter-- excuse me-- the other day where I ask people what they thought. Did Carol kill her husband and feed him to the tigers? What do you think?

BRITTNEY PALMER: I mean, probably. I mean, yeah, sure.

[LAUGHTER]

KEVIN IOLE: That was kind of what I thought too. You know. Kind of got Sean and threw him in there and be done with him.

BRITTNEY PALMER: Yeah, she's just so nonchalant. She's like, I don't know.

[LAUGHTER]

So yeah.

KEVIN IOLE: So what is-- give people an idea of what your life is like as an Octagon girl, because I know that's not all that you do. You're an artist. You have your Instagram site, Brittney Palmer Art. I want to talk to you a little bit about some of your paintings, but like when there's a fight, like when do you get to the site, and what are your responsibilities and duties that you have to do?

BRITTNEY PALMER: So I mean, we get there on Thursday night usually. Sometimes Arianny and I can like sneak in on Friday morning just to have one extra day at home, but they don't let us do that often, because flights and you know. So we get there Thursday night. Friday morning, we wake up, we'll work out, we have breakfast. You know, we just take it really mellow. Then we have the weigh-ins, and then we usually do a beautiful dinner, and then we sleep in, you know, and hang out until fight day.

It's very relaxed, and it used to be, I think in my younger years, we would go clubbing, and we would go out and have all this fun. But now we're just like, we'll do masks, and we just kind of have like, you know, we're best friends, so we just have like a sleepover and just go and watch movies in her room, and you know. You know, Girl Talk.

KEVIN IOLE: Was it scary a couple of years ago when Ronda Rousey was the champion and she got mad at Arianny and I think there was kind of a little thing going on there? Was that scary for her?

BRITTNEY PALMER: If you know anything about Arianny, nothing really scares her, so she was she was happy for the beef, I guess. I've always liked Ronda. I painted her before. Her and I don't have any beef, which is good, so I, on the other hand, I'm a little bit more sensitive, so I'd be terrified. But Arianny, She's good.

KEVIN IOLE: Oh, that's good. Yeah. Now, that was kind of crazy. I'm thinking, boy, if you're a ring car girl, you don't want one of those fighters mad at you. That would really be a problem.

BRITTNEY PALMER: Yeah, we're all on the same team here.

KEVIN IOLE: Now you, I mean, you mentioned you train. Do you still? I know before you had done a little bit of training in MMA. Do you still do that as a workout?

BRITTNEY PALMER: You know, I do boxing classes and stuff here in Los Angeles. I trained more when I was living in Las Vegas, because we had all of the gyms there, so it is a little bit easier to do the tap out gym and train, but not as much as I'd like to, but yeah, I do boxing. But it's not MMA, and it's so funny when Arianny and I go, and they're like, oh, you know, hit it like the fighters. And we're just like, we look at each other like, yeah right. Because we know what goes into this training and actually how a fighter trains. But it's good. It's fun.

KEVIN IOLE: What is it like, you know, obviously, we in the media are fortunate. We get those seats right up close by where you are. You have a little bit different angle and are closer. When you get some of those crazy knockouts that end up, and you know, have you ever had one that the guy fell and gotten knocked out right in front of you, and do you kind of cringe a little bit when you see those?

BRITTNEY PALMER: You know, like you said before, I've been here for 12 years, and when that happens, I'm more just like, yes, because I know that is great for the sport. It's great for the show, and that's what I want, you know. I love this sport. I love working for UFC. So when I know that those happen or when I see those happen-- I mean, of course we cringe because we're human, and we don't want to see blood gushing, but at the same time, we're like, hell yeah. That was badass, because we genuinely love it.

KEVIN IOLE: Yeah, I love combat sports. I've covered for over 30 years, and so I love the knockouts, but I also know hey, the toll was taken on the person getting knocked out, and so it's a tough juxtaposition there.

BRITTNEY PALMER: Exactly, and we also, we become friends with the fighters, you know. Like we're all a big family, and that's how Dayna has positioned all of us, and I think it's important. So in those situations where we have a friend that isn't doing that well, or you know, something that doesn't go kind of how we wanted to, but we're professionals and even though-- I mean, as an Octagon girl, it's our job to kind of to be on both sides, so we have to stay very like-- we can't be so upset if someone that we love loses, and you know, we have to really play fair for everyone.

KEVIN IOLE: Does it ever good tiring, you know, when you're walking around the ring and you have all these catcalls coming in? People saying things, you know, I see you guys kind of try to acknowledge people a little bit as you're going around. Is it rough though as you're doing that?

BRITTNEY PALMER: Not necessarily. Sometimes when we don't get them, we actually feel more insecure. We're like, oh my god, is it us? You know, so it just depends on also where we are in the world. You know, some states and cities are more aggressive than other cities, and you know, so when we get uncomfortable, but you know, we understand. We're very, you know, we're aware of what we're doing and the position that we're in and that we're putting ourselves in. So it's not too bad, but sometimes it gets more uncomfortable when they're aggressive. Where you're like, ahh, you know?

KEVIN IOLE: Did you go to the Middle East? Did you do any of the shows in Abu Dhabi?

BRITTNEY PALMER: No, I didn't.

KEVIN IOLE: So you lucked out there, because I wonder, that had to be a rough one.

BRITTNEY PALMER: I heard. I heard from the girls. We wanted to do it, and then I don't remember what happened. Arianny and I, we were like, we asked Dana. We were like, can we please go? And then something just happened. Oh, we were-- no-- we were traveling. I think we went to like Europe that summer. It was last summer, or somewhere around, and we were just like back to back on trips, and it would have just been too much, so we opted out, which was a blessing.

KEVIN IOLE: Now, how was it like, you know, there's a lot of Octagon girls now. Back at the time, it used to be two or three, and that was it. How do they decide where you go? Like are you kind of like Joe Rogan, are you the A team? And when there are the big pay per views, Brittney Palmer shows up?

BRITTNEY PALMER: Exactly.

[LAUGHTER]

That's what we say, and we like to say, like-- they're like, well when do you-- I'm like, if Joe's there, we'll be there. But also, you know, Arianny and I, since we've been doing this so long, and you know, we don't know how much longer. So we want to do more, and especially like my best friend, she lives in Austin. So if we have a fight in Austin, I'm like, can I go there? Because then I'll stay in Austin for a couple days and see her. Or if there's like New York, well, obviously always New York, but like if there are cities that are specific, you know, just that we've never been to that we want to, we'll ask, and they usually are pretty lenient and let us do it.

KEVIN IOLE: That is awesome. One last question. Do you have a favorite fight that you've seen? Is there one that like stands out of your mind that you say, this is the best I've ever seen?

BRITTNEY PALMER: Oh, man. You know what? I love the BMF fight that they just had. I really liked it, but it's hard. I've been here 12 years. Connor McGregor is an amazing fighter. I love watching him fight. Diaz is an amazing fighter. I love watching him fight. You know, Urijah Faber, Jens Pulver, NWEC, that was [BLEEP] awesome.

KEVIN IOLE: Those were the days.

BRITTNEY PALMER: Remember that one? When he did the-- it was so cool, or when Anthony Pettis kicked off the cage. So yeah, there's just so many, and the ones-- the fight that was just recent. I'm going to butcher it, but anyways, they're all great.

KEVIN IOLE: Did you get a chance at the BMF fight, did you get a chance to meet the president?

BRITTNEY PALMER: No, I didn't, but I did see him.

KEVIN IOLE: They kept you away, huh?

BRITTNEY PALMER: Yeah. They had a tight ship, because we didn't really know he was attending until UFC contacted us and they needed all of our social security numbers and everything. We were like, for what? Like, what did we do? I mean, me, I'm very sensitive. I'm like, did I do something? And they're like, no, it's for the Secret Service. I'm like, oh, president's coming.

KEVIN IOLE: Yeah, they got that done. I want to transition. You know, you have made a living know doing painting. Where did you graduate? You graduated, what, UCLA?

BRITTNEY PALMER: So I didn't graduate, but I took classes at UCLA and then Brentwood Art Center which is like a private art school here in Los Angeles, and I moved here. So I grew up in Las Vegas, and I moved. I was, you know, working with WEC, and I was a professional dancer then, and then I was in a car accident when I was 21 years old, and yeah.

And I wasn't able to dance anymore, and I just completely, when I was pretty much bedridden for three months, I just started to paint, became obsessed with it, and then just moved to LA, and I was like, you know what? I just want to learn everything I can and master this craft, because I was obsessed. And I was so much of a better artist than I was a dancer. I naturally was picking that up better. So I moved here, and I went to school and just took classes, four classes a week, three hours a day.

KEVIN IOLE: Wow.

BRITTNEY PALMER: Yeah, and then I still traveled with the UFC, and I did that for probably like six months, seven months, and then I got the cover of "Playboy," and my schedule went psh, it just skyrocketed.

KEVIN IOLE: So your life changed a lot when "Playboy" happened?

BRITTNEY PALMER: Ah-ha, and I was traveling so much, and then that between all the press tours and everything, I just, I couldn't, I just kind of stopped going to classes, but I always want to go back, and I will when I have the time.

KEVIN IOLE: I think I saw, and I think it was Arianny on Instagram the other day, but somebody had a picture in their house, and there were a couple of paintings that look like they were your paintings. Was that her house that had your paintings on them?

BRITTNEY PALMER: Yes. Those weren't my paintings though. That is her friend. Yeah, I know what you're talking about, but she does have my art in her house. I've given her paintings. She has drawings I've done her, and she has like a big portrait in her guest bathroom, but yeah. It's wonderful. It's great to have my friends support me, and you know.

KEVIN IOLE: How many of the fighters? And I know you've done Conor McGregor, you've done Dana, John Jones, anybody else of the fighters?

BRITTNEY PALMER: Amanda Nunez. I've done-- who else have I've done? Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, BJ Penn I've done. I'm going back. Let me see.

KEVIN IOLE: Yeah, getting old school.

BRITTNEY PALMER: Ronda Rousey. Yeah, Ronda Rousey. I did her beautiful ESPN cover, I did that one. I do a lot. I mean, that was-- I'm so grateful, because I have UFC and the promotion, so I can promote my art which is what I'm the most passionate about, and I've been doing extremely well, and, you know, been keeping busy with it.

KEVIN IOLE: So if somebody wanted to buy one of your prints, so let's say they wanted to buy one of the fighters. Somebody wanted to buy Conor McGregor. Where do they go to get that?

BRITTNEY PALMER: Well, fun fact. Conor McGregor owns that painting. He bought that.

KEVIN IOLE: So no other prints, huh?

BRITTNEY PALMER: No, there's prints. Yes, of course. So they would go to BrittneyPalmer.com and even if they're interested in a commissioned painting, they can also access me through my web site and just inquire about a painting, and there you go.

KEVIN IOLE: So if somebody wants Francis Ngannou blowing somebody's head off, Britney is on the scene.

BRITTNEY PALMER: Yes, exactly.

[LAUGHTER]

KEVIN IOLE: Are you are you working on anything interesting besides fighters, like do you have anything you're working on right now?

BRITTNEY PALMER: I just finished a beautiful painting of Ganache, which is the remover of obstacles. It's like a Hindu god. I'm working on a Buddha painting next. What else. I'm also, I'm really about, I want to start a Kobe painting, just for me. So the other ones that I am working on are commissions, and someone had purchased them from me, but I want to do a Kobe painting. Now that I have all this time, I'm like, why not do the projects that I really want to.

KEVIN IOLE: So how do you keep Hendricks and Banana Joe so white when you bring them into the studio when you're painting?

BRITTNEY PALMER: They're not as white as you think they. Their little paws are completely black, but I'm lucky. I don't know, people ask all the time. They're like, do you fluff Banana Joe? And I'm like, I really don't. Poor dog, he only gets brushed at the groomers, that's it, and he goes to the groomers like once every two weeks. I'm a great dog mom, but I'm not like a bougie dog mom. They're not like pampered all the time, they're just like dirty little dust balls that pick up lint.

[LAUGHTER]

KEVIN IOLE: I have five basset hounds, and it's like I tell people they get better health care than half the United States does.

BRITTNEY PALMER: Oh my gosh. They really do. I mean, I give them everything, little punks.

[LAUGHTER]

KEVIN IOLE: Yeah, no, no, we definitely love them. So Brittney, any plans to go on the television and do things like that? I know as you mentioned that your career as a ring card girl may be nearing an end. What will be the next thing for you? Will you just keep painting, or will you have any other thing like that?

BRITTNEY PALMER: You know, I mean, I'm not sure. I plan to be with UFC as long as possible until Dana says, Brittney, you can't, you got to go. And as long as I keep up with my physique and continuously grow with the sport, I hope to be with UFC as long as I can. But I think after, you know, I don't think I only have to do one thing.

I'm always going to paint. I'm going to start showing in big galleries and hopefully one day museums and create this beautiful artist's career that I want and I'm striving for and I have been working for the past 10 years. But after, I mean, I love hosting. I live in LA. I live in the hub of doing all this kind of stuff, so it's definitely not off the books of what I want to do. It's more just the drive to go and get an agent and kind of like play that card, which I haven't done that yet.

KEVIN IOLE: Well, I appreciate you and all your time. You do a great job. Thank you so much for chatting with me, Brittney and we will talk again soon.

BRITTNEY PALMER: Thank you so much.