Exclusive interview with Invicta FC Featherweight – Charmaine Tweet

Charmaine Tweet

Charmaine “Not so sweet” Tweet – The name itself might not sound menacing, but the former kickboxing world champion had her first taste of MMA when she went up against the current UFC women’s Bantamweight champion, ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey. Charmaine currently competes in the Invicta FC Featherweight division, and was kind enough to take 40 minutes out of her day off to talk to my colleague, Ratish Menon and I about her storied career, her debut fight against Ronda Rousey, and what she thought about fighting in India couple of years ago.

During the course of our conversation, we talked about her kickboxing career, her time at the Duke Roofus’ gym, what she thought about the rivalry brewing between Invicta FC’s Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino and the UFC’s Bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey, along with a few uncomfortable moments she faced after she fought in India. Below is an excerpt from the interview.

AG: This came up during our conversation with Rich Franklin. He said that when he came down to India, he was probably the only person to have thought that a cow on the road was out of its place. Did you have any similar experiences in India?

CT: With the cows? (Laughs). Oh gosh! There were so many things. The cows walking down-town was kind of different for me (Laughs). Not being able to find a trash can. I remember walking down the road with a water bottle and thinking, “I’m getting tired of holding this water bottle.” And I was like, “Where the hell am I going to put this?” You see the trash in the street, but you just can’t toss it because that’s not right! And the one thing that did kind of amaze me, because I’m not short, my coaches aren’t short and my husband isn’t short. We’re all very tall people, and when we’d go around, there were a lot of people who wanted to get their picture taken with us. And it starts a chain reaction, because if you take one, then it leads to the next and the next. That was crazy for us, because I just wanted to go on the boat (Laughs). I think they thought I was from the WWE or something. Because my coaches are two very big, muscular guys and the people were constantly taking pictures with them. And I was actually sitting on the boat afterwards, and there was this person holding a bag with a photo in it, and I was like, “Wait a minute! That dress looks pretty familiar”, and that was me! So that was pretty interesting.

AG: You were among the couple of foreign female fighters to have fought in the SFL. There were some reports about how the whole deal ended. Could you elaborate on what really happened there?

CT: Well, I just want to start off by saying I absolutely loved India. I was so looking forward to coming back. I loved the food, I loved the climate, I loved the people and everything about India, and I was excited to come back. I had a fight contract with the SFL, and things went well. I won my fight, and they were excited to be there, and the fashion I won my fight in, and were all, “Yeah, we can’t wait to get you back”. I had given them the information to wire me my funds, which was correct by the way; I work in a financial institution that I bank at. I had all the right information down, and they told me that I’d get the money in about a week or two, so I stayed in India an extra week to do some sightseeing and I was pretty sure that by the time I got home, the funds would be wired to my account. But, it wasn’t there yet, and I waited. I think we gave them about 3 weeks before we contacted them, knowing that if they had made a mistake in entering the number, they’d get the money back, you know, and they’d resend it. So I wasn’t really getting worried about it. I fought in November (23rd), so when it was getting close to Christmas time, we were kind of getting run around by what was going on. Really, I’m a broke fighter; I needed that money for Christmas (Laughs). I had to buy some gifts for my children. So, by Christmas time when it wasn’t there, I think it was Christmas Eve, that we broke the story, and said, “You know what? I’m going to go public with it because I’m being run around”. Then we went to my manager at that time and he put out the statement that I wasn’t paid by the SFL. The proverbial shit hit the fan after that one! The fans and the people in the WMMA community do not take well to fighters not getting paid. Then basically, SFL had to shut down their website, Twitter and Facebook because it was getting inundated by people who were pissed off at them for not paying me. Unfortunately, they did not shut everything down before they released me from my contract on Twitter (Laughs). The first thing I heard on Christmas morning was, “Oh yeah, you’ve been paid. And you’re released”, and I was like, “Yeah, I haven’t been paid but, okay!” So what then happened was that the person who handled the North American promotion actually said, “Look, can you stop the barrage on social media? And I’ll get you your money”. He ended up paying me actually a portion of it, first of all, and then there was more that was supposed to come, and I think it was probably in February that I got my entire purse. It came from this person (The North American promoter) personally, like his personal money. He sends that to pay me for the SFL not paying me. To be honest, I don’t know if he has been reimbursed by them or not. It started off very well, and I thought I was in a good place. I loved the way I was treated over there, but when I got home, things changed and it ended up being a really bad experience in the end.

AG: But, did you have a copy of your contract?

CT: That’s a good question! I can’t remember. Can you tell I’m a fighter because I can’t remember a lot? (Laughs). I have to look because I have so many different contracts sitting around here, but did I get a copy? You know what? I don’t think I did to be honest with you. I don’t think I did! I’m going to have a look around, but I don’t think I did. What we basically did was weigh – in, sign the contract and I was ready to leave. So there’s only one thing on a fighter’s mind after they weigh – in, and that’s water and food (Laughs). So, no I don’t think I did! But it was hard (to get the money). I had to fight for my money. There was the actual fight, and then the fight to get it. It shouldn’t be like that, and the guy whose name was Dan (Daniel Isaac) and he was basically the one who ran everything at the SFL, and if I also remember correctly, he was the one who headed the commission which was a conflict of interest. There was nobody I could go to. In North America, if I don’t get paid, I go to the commission and I complain to them, and the commission steps in. But that wasn’t really possible (Laughs).

RM: Your overall thoughts on the organization and would you return to fight in the company, under the right circumstances?

CT: I don’t know. Different management? Maybe. The right circumstances would be, you cut me a cheque (Laughs). You cut me a cheque once I’m done, a certified cheque that I know the funds are guaranteed, perhaps. Honestly, I love to travel, and that’s one of the reasons I do this, and it’s not just to make the money. It’s nice to get the cheques and pay my bills, but number one it’s because of the travel for me. So, maybe, but.. (Laughs). There would have to be a lot of things set in stone that they would have to have before I would consider it. But never say never; you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.

I didn’t know where the fighters from India would be staying, and so I actually got to the venue, and it was nice, and that’s where they filmed (SFL Challengers), and so it was a set and all the fighters from India stayed there. The guys had their dorm that they stayed in, and the girls had their dorm that they stayed in, and it was very communal. The meals were cooked for them, which I was jealous of (Laughs), because I wanted to have a nice, actual traditional Indian food, and I was very stoked for that. So, yeah, they all stayed in the spot, where as I was put up in the Airport Hilton – a 5 star hotel, and they (fighters) don’t even know how the people who are not from here are being treated. Like I said before, I was treated really well – great hotel, great buffet, and I didn’t see anybody else who looked like a fighter except for Big Jimmy there, who was a fighter on the card. And that was it; all the other native fighters were housed somewhere else, and I thought it was a bit odd.

RM: With you being active on social media and advising the other fighters, would you tell the other fighters to fight in India?

CT: Um, yeah. I’d say go to India and fight if the opportunity presents itself. Actually, I did tell someone, when she called me and said SFL wanted her to fight, but I said just know going in that things might not work out perfectly for you, and be prepared for what might happen, but I won’t say don’t do it. But if it were a different organization, I’d say, “Yeah, go for sure” without any warnings.

We also talked about various things such as Invicta FC being telecasted on UFC Fight Pass, what she thought about Ronda beating Davis at UFC 175 and much more. You can follow Charmaine on Twitter and on Facebook, and be sure to support her for her fights on UFC Fight Pass, along with her first boxing match in August. Also, do make sure to listen to the entire interview here.