Natasha Wicks: Former UFC Octagon Girl Goes Through Fight Tub Time Machine

It may not have been your favorite film in the world, in fact the makers of Hot Tub Time Machine probably deserve to get smacked in the face over a dozen times with a frozen chicken McNugget for creating such a corny script, but realistically the idea of sitting in a hot tub that travels through time is quite intriguing.

When I watched the movie last year—after I threw the DVD at my neighbor’s poodle and begged for the two hours of my life back—I began to ponder if such a device existed.

Could we really travel through time while soaking naked in a Jacuzzi?

After months of tedious research I came in contact with a mad scientist/ retired cartoon actor known simply as “The Brain”. He was able to hook me up with a real life Hot Tub Time Machine and all he wanted in return was a block of cheese.

Needless to say I got it for practically a steal and renamed it the Fight Tub Time Machine. I decided to test the device out live on the air.

Former UFC Octagon girl Natasha Wicks was willing to go for a test ride on the latest episode of Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun radio.

First we traveled back in time and discussed Wicks decision to enter the modeling industry.

“I always wanted to try modeling when I was younger but being short, you know when you think of a model you think of someone really tall or a super skinny runway type and I never thought it was something I would ever be able to do so I never tried,” Wicks told Mitch Ciccarelli on Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun Radio.

“And then when I was living in Hawaii some agent lady or someone was like ‘have you ever tried modeling?’ and I told her I was kind of on the short side but she explained to me that there are so many different types [of models] so when I moved back to Vegas I decided to give it a try because if it didn’t work out at least I could say I tried.”

The 5’2, Wicks is certainly a tiny little lady, but while she is potentially small enough to fit in your pocket she is taller than four feet and therefore not legally classified as a leprechaun by most standards.

Although if she were a leprechaun I imagine she would be very friendly and would hand out candy and gold coins during St. Patrick’s Day rather than steal your Lucky Charms during breakfast like most leprechauns.

Anyway, after we talked about her start in modeling I took the Fight Tub Time Machine back to the year 2009. This, of course, was the year that Wicks competed in and won the Maxim UFC Octagon girl contest and officially became a part of the UFC.

Unfortunately her stint in the UFC was short lived and she was surprisingly released at the end of 09’ along with fellow Octagon girl Logan Stanton.

The gorgeous blonde doesn’t hold any grudges towards the UFC and enjoyed her time with the company. She had a blast working with them and meeting so many significant people in the MMA industry.

She even picked up on a few Samurai skills that she has used to beat up on her friend, Strikeforce fighter Ryan Couture at the Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas.

“It was funny because [we were at Xtreme Couture] and everyone’s like ‘put the gloves on’ so I was just kind of doing the whole, punch, punch, punch and then started throwing some random punches and got kind of crazy and scaring him,” Wicks said.

“So then later on when I was getting ready to leave he walked by and flinched and I turned to him and said ‘oh you’re scared of me’ and he was like ‘yeah you’re kind of unpredictable, I don’t even know, you’re kind of scary’ so it was definitely fun.”

As some of you may know, both Couture and Wicks are a big part of the It Ain’t Chemo organization. IAC was founded in 2010 by cancer survivor Kevin Hoyt and it is a non-profit organization that provides cancer patients with comfort and care supplies, advice, and emotional support.

When Wicks met Hoyt last year they hit it off instantly and it didn’t take Wicks long to join the team. In fact, when Hoyt asked her about it she instantly jumped on board as the cause hits close to home for her.

“The first time I worked with It Ain’t Chemo was at one of their paintball tournaments and I was actually just going with Raw Vegas TV as a host and I was going to interview Randy [Couture] and random people,” Wicks said.

“Two and a half years ago I lost my godfather from Cancer and it was devastating so [I told Kevin] that I would love to be involved in an organization that helps people who are going through chemotherapy,” Wicks said.

It Ain’t Chemo helps cancer patients worldwide of any age but are mostly known for working with young children who are battling through the disease.

Wicks, along with fellow IAC spokesmodel and Tuff N’ Uff ring girl Stephanie Ann Cook, has always been very passionate about helping kids.

For them it’s about putting smiles on the faces of young children who are going through a horrible thing that no child should have to go through.

“Since I was young my passion has always been that I love kids so I love doing missions and that kind of stuff, just anything that can put a smile on someone’s face is really where my heart’s at so when he asked me to be a part of it I jumped right on board,” Wicks said.

“They’re great people, they do a great thing and they’re growing and I just hope they get even bigger and have more publicity this way they can do more to help and take on more kids and cancer warriors.”

Wicks went on to share with me some of the finer details of the IAC mission and part of what they do to help those who are suffering with cancer.

“We cater to each individual kid so the money that people donate doesn’t go to their medical bills, it’s more about making their dreams and passions become a reality and getting people involved,” Wicks said.

“One of my friends Nate Berkheimer, he’s a pro BMX rider and he just started getting involved because one of our new cancer warriors, Eric, is a huge BMX fan. So I told Nate that we’ve got this kid who’s a huge BMX fan and a huge Diamondback fan, which is a very popular bike in the BMX world, and Nate just so happens to be a rider for Diamondback so he jumped all over it.”

“He came out here on Saturday to the gym with us and was there hanging out, playing around with the kids. Eric’s bike got stolen so Nate is hooking him up with a new one but basically if he didn’t do that It Ain’t Chemo would take the money from donations and buy Eric a new bike so he has something to push through his chemo so he can get better and ride his new bike.”

With all the medical advancements and breakthroughs that are constantly being discovered, there is still no cure for cancer. Some, like Hoyt, are able to beat the disease but others aren’t as fortunate and it’s incredibly sad to hear some of these stories.

“One of our little girls, that unfortunately passed away a couple of months ago, wanted to learn to draw so [Xtreme Couture fighter] Gil Guardado came in and taught her how to draw and It Ain’t Chemo supplied the art supplies and stuff so it’s just about keeping them excited about life, keeping them happy about what they’re passionate about and just trying to put a smile on their face.”

For anyone who is interested in donating to It Ain’t Chemo, go to www.itaintchemo.com and click on the contribute tab at the top right. Also to listen to the entire episode of CTHL radio featuring Nik Lentz, Wicks and MMAJunkie.com’s Derek Bolender click the link below.

Listen to internet radio with CTHL MMA Radio on Blog Talk Radio

Mitch Ciccarelli is the sexiest columnist in MMA. A staff writer for Heavy MMA, featured columnist for B/R and host of Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun MMA Radio, Ciccarelli is also a future United States Airman beginning basic training this March. He is also engaged to Eva Mendes and Jessica Simpson.

Follow Ciccarelli on Twitter. @MitchCiccarelli