Up Close: Ottavia Busia Bourdain Goes Past Putdowns

But this wasn’t a sordid afternoon delight. Ms. Bourdain, 34, is a mixed martial arts fighter, an aspirant to the league of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and she was training, as she does nearly every day, at the Renzo Gracie Academy on West 30th Street.

Ms. Bourdain is a petite auburn-haired Italian with a wide smile and what looks to be no body fat. She is the straight punch to her husband’s exuberant looping swings: lean, mean and disciplined. But as widely exposed as Mr. Bourdain is (his show is one of the Travel Channel’s highest rated), she has thus far been seen only in glimpses. “I hate being on TV,” she said.

Now Ms. Bourdain is ready to step out from her husband’s long shadow.

Last week she was the subject of her own episode of “No Reservations,” in which she competed in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament. She is trying to find a taker for a TV series about a motley crew of maladjusted restaurant workers called “Employees Only,” for which she is executive producer. And this month she will compete in an International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Open competition in Miami.

This is not the life she had envisioned. “I had a very nice Italian life,” she said. “I grew up in a small town in Lombardy. I was studying to be a dentist.”

But in 2000 she unexpectedly decamped to the United States, to follow an Irish rock musician she was in love with. With little English and $300 in her pocket, she struggled, working at a quick succession of restaurants including Sette MoMA, Café des Artistes and Le Bernardin.

Eventually she became a general manager at Geisha, a Japanese restaurant for which Eric Ripert was a consulting chef. It was Mr. Ripert who introduced her to Mr. Bourdain. (“It was what we call in French a coup de foudre,” Mr. Ripert said, meaning love at first sight.)

Both were heavy drinkers, smokers, eaters and partyers. Their first date was to a cigar bar; their second was to Masa. A few dates later, they had matching tattoos (of a chef’s knife) put on their shoulders. And after a few more dates, they married.

Ms. Bourdain can be as outspoken and provocative as her husband. “We make fun of each other a lot,” she said. “I say what I want. People either like it or not, but I don’t care.”

In a recent New York magazine article chronicling her diet, she called a steak she had at an unnamed steakhouse in Las Vegas “an abomination.” This led to an Internet witch hunt that ended in a public apology by the chef Charlie Palmer, who admitted the steak had been his. “It is always a downer to hear something like this,” he wrote, “particularly when it concerns the wife of a colleague.”

But her no-holds-barred style has earned her many fans, including 35,000 Twitter followers. If she has learned anything from her husband, it’s that outrage and aggression sell. These characteristics don’t hurt in mixed martial arts either.

In 2008, Ms. Bourdain saw the mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano in Newark, and found the perfect outlet for her aggression. “As a woman, the idea of rolling around with a sweaty man is not so appealing,” she said. “But as soon as I started, I was completely hooked.”

After six months of training at the Renzo Gracie Academy, Ms. Bourdain entered her first Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition in March 2011. The occasion was filmed for the HDNet series “Inside MMA.” She did not fare well. “I thought I was going to kill everybody,” she said. “But I choked.”

She redoubled her efforts. These days, much of Ms. Bourdain’s time is spent in the gym. She practices two hours a day with Igor Gracie, a mixed martial arts fighter; kickboxes at the Punch Fitness Center on the Upper East Side; and after she takes her daughter, Ariane, to school, she runs.

She also maintains strict rules. She never smokes. She doesn’t drink. She rarely carbo loads.

Back at the Renzo Gracie Academy, Ms. Bourdain and Leo Leite, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, circled each other, crouching forward in a wrestling stance. In one quick fluid movement, Ms. Bourdain darted in and, clasping her hands behind his knees, drove him to the mat. They tussled, and after a few moments, Ms. Bourdain caught his arm and head between her legs. She squeezed her thighs together and he turned red and redder.

Finally, he tapped to signal submission. Ms. Bourdain jumped up. “When I see an opportunity, I take it,” she said, as she smoothed her hair and straightened out her uniform. “That’s how you win.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: October 18, 2012

A previous version of this article referred incorrectly to Igor Gracie. He is not a competitor in the Ultimate Fighting Championship league.

View the original article here