Rusty Malinoski is a big fan of mixed martial arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship. UFC fighter Gray “The Bully” Maynard is a big fan of wakeboarding. In May, the professional wakeboarder and professional fighter spent a day in each other’s shoes. Malinoski travelled to Las Vegas to work out at Maynard’s home gym, Xtreme Couture, which is owned by UFC legend Randy Couture.
“Gray’s boxing coach came in and we spent two hours doing all sorts of stand-up stuff,” Malinoski says. “Then I spent an hour with Gray and his training partner doing groundwork.”
Afterward, Maynard and Malinoski headed to Lake Mead, where MasterCraft of Las Vegas (vegaswatersports.com) had three tow boats gassed up and ready to go. The pair rode doubles and Malinoski gave Maynard some tips on landing the 360 he’s been working on.
“It was really cool because Gray loves wakeboarding like I love UFC,” Malinoski says. “We were talking about my quote from the May issue: ‘I just wanna get punted.’ Gray said his quote would be ‘I just want to punch people in the face.'”
Words: Luke Woodling Photos: Steven Hahn
