Harvick 'nursing hangover' after cheering UFC fighter
Author: Jeff Gluck
Date: Jan. 19, 2015
In some ways, NASCAR champ Kevin Harvick watches a UFC fight like the average fan.
He sits in the stands – preferably the first row of seats above floor level for an unobstructed view – and drinks enough beer to have a good time (Budweiser, of course).
"I'm still nursing a hangover today, probably like most people in the arena," he told USA TODAY Sports on Monday morning after attending UFC Fight Night 59 in Boston.
But Harvick doesn't attend fights just for fun. Though he enjoys UFC, his Kevin Harvick Inc. manages the careers of several fighters – including Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone, who fought former lightweight champion Benson Henderson on Sunday night at TD Garden and won by unanimous decision.
"I'm the sweaty palms guy that doesn't say a lot," Harvick said. "I sit there and want to throw up the whole time. I know these guys and gals personally and you know how much time and effort they put in, and you want to see them be successful in what they do. There's just a lot on the line."
KHI has transitioned from a championship race team to a sports management company that represents fighters Cerrone, Miesha Tate and Rose Namajunas. But for the most part, Harvick tries not to bother his fighters in the days before an event.
During Cerrone's seven-fight win streak, for example, Harvick has texted him just once several days beforehand. While KHI's Josh Jones is in the back with Cerrone, Harvick remains in his seat.
"That's just the way things have been going over his winning streak, so I hadn't wanted to buck that trend," Harvick said. "With the way he puts on his shorts and how he does things, it seems like he might be a little more superstitious than I am. So I don't want to break that tradition – I don't want to be the guy responsible for something going wrong."
The Cerrone decision was close and a bit controversial – many thought Henderson won – but Harvick said he thought Cerrone took the first two rounds and lost the third. More than anything, Harvick felt relief at the judges' decision – particularly since Cerrone had taken the fight on short notice after beating Myles Jury on Jan. 4.
Yes, since Cerrone was hanging out at Harvick's NASCAR championship celebration party in December, he's fought twice.
"For Donald to take that fight in two weeks – he's fought twice in two weeks – that was a pretty risky move for him and it all worked out," Harvick said. "Hopefully he can relax now and take some time and get all the little nicks and dings healed up and get ready for something four or five months down the road."
Harvick acknowledged that it's hard to tame Cerrone for that long "and not get the phone call that we're going to fight the former champion in two weeks."
"I guess it's never a dull moment with him, so you just never know what to expect," he said with a chuckle.
In the meantime, it's back to preseason NASCAR preparations for Harvick. He spent the last two days in Boston promoting the Daytona 500 and is trying to complete what's been a busy offseason despite a lack of preseason testing.
Much of that schedule has been "self-induced," Harvick said. His family and business is at the end of a hectic three-year stretch which included shutting down the KHI race team, switching Sprint Cup Series teams, winning the championship and living in different homes after a 2013 fire in the family's former residence.
In the days before he won the championship in November, Harvick relocated his family to a new home in Charlotte.
"We're trying to get everything settled in Charlotte," he said. "Now we're working on our offices and trying to get everything as organized and set up as you can before you leave for Daytona so you can put it all on the back burner until next winter and concentrate on the task at hand.
"The focus right now is to make sure everything from a personal side and business side is organized and everybody is in the office and working and functioning so that we can go race and not have to worry about it."
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