Today, The Guy Review caught up with the beautiful & talented Tamara Suguitan also known as “RaRa” or Miss “RaRa” in the MMA scene. Having met her way back in the day, we quickly had nostalgic moments like when I thought that one of the “Queen of the Underground” was going to guillotine choke my ass for looking at her. For those of you that don’t know her she’s Gorgeous with a capital G. “RaRa” is of Filipino descent hailing from Stockton, California. As a three sport varsity athlete Tamara ended up at Cal State LA where she studied Marketing Management. She quickly applied her talents to what she had a passion for – mixed martial arts. Her desire and drive led her to become one of the co-founders of the International Mix Martial Arts Expo, where she worked with some of the biggest names in the sport such as BJ Penn, Urijah Faber, Randy Couture, Mark Munoz, Brandon Vera, Arianny Celeste and many others. She’s hosted MMA programs such as “MMA with Yac and J” on ProElite,com, “GymPass with Miss Rara” on BJPenn.com, “American CageFighter” on Comcast SportsNet and collaborated with numerous MMA related companies like Tapout, Fight Chix, Toe2Toe, Affliction, Throwdown.
We were wondering what she was up to nowadays when she told us about RaRa Rocks and the story behind it………
Tamara was sexually assaulted in December of 2017 by someone she knew, which brought back painful memories of a previous abusive domestic relationship. Our Guy Review team started to look into sexual assaults deeper and found out disheartening facts. On average there are 321,500 victims (12 years old or older) of rape and sexual assault in the United States every year. That equates to one assault or rape every 98 seconds. An astonishing 1 out of 6 American women has been the victim of rape or attempted rape. The statistics found on https://www.rainn.org/ are gut wrenching. Worst of all, less than 30% of rapes are reported. We sat down with RaRa and talked about her plans, ambitions, relationships and how she found the strength and courage to turn an ugly situation into hope for other victims.
The Guy Review: RaRa, we’re sorry you had to go through something like this. How do you find the strength to not only move on, but fight on and help others?
RaRa: I look at my reflection in areas where I could have received help. For example, when I was in a domestic violence relationship when I was a 19 years old, I went to the courthouse to file a restraining order, but I never had the papers served cause I was scared. Had I not had those papers served, I probably wouldn’t have this scar on my nose because he gave me two black eyes and broken nose. I wish I could have spoken up and said something to someone.
Speaking up is so important to me right now. Truth is. There’s so much purpose when the truth is revealed. It sets you free.
When I was a victim of assault, a lot of emotions from my past came up, and how I secluded myself from everyone. Now that I’m older, I know the right things to do. And, the first thing I did was tell my family, the people who love me the most.
I know voicing my truth is important. That’s why I want to help others so they can be encouraged to speak their truth too.
The Guy Review: We usually talk about light hearted topics during our interviews, but I have to ask myself this; The statistics on assault and rape are high AF. We all came from a woman didn’t we? Regardless of male or female, when did it become socially acceptable to sexually assault other people?
RaRa: Well, we grew up in an era where rape culture and social justice was influenced on us through music and movies. Like Jay-Z’s song Big Pimpin.
“You know I thug em, fuck em, love em, leave em
Cause I don’t fuckin’ need em
Take em out the hood, keep em lookin’ good
But I don’t fuckin’ feed em”
Women were degraded everywhere. People bought into the music, music videos, commercials, movies, etc. Sex sells and money, power, and respect influences us. This is where rape culture and social justice became socially acceptable.
The Guy Review: So, tell us the story of “RaRa Rocks” and what’s it’s about.
RaRa: Rara Rocks is a domestic violence and sexual assault awareness campaign that I created. The campaign helps encourage victims to speak up to their “rocks” and we do this by painting rocks with speak up gratitude rocks. Essentially, there are two energies behind each rock; gratitude and comfort.
The campaign has been great! I’ve done a lot of community events already.
It’s rewarding when parents come up to me, thanking me for giving them a platform to talk to their children about sexual assault and define who their “rocks” are incase anyone touches them in a way they know they’re not supposed to be touched. It’s our youth that I want to influence. They’re our future.
The Guy Review: OK on a lighter note are you single, dating or?
RaRa: LOL Yeah, I’m dating my rabbit. In all seriousness it’s complicated to even say cause it’s hard for me to trust people right now. The only guys I trust are guy friends that I’ve known for a long time. And right now, there are only two. One is a friend and the other is someone I’m interested in. I like to call him my “special friend.”
I feel bad for the men that are introducing themselves to me, trying to get to know me, because I don’t trust them. And I know there are a lot of good men out there. It’s just really bad timing. I really can’t trust anyone new.
Dating after sexual assault is tough because you have to create walls and boundaries for yourself, and communicate when things make you feel uncomfortable. I think that’s why it’s easy for me to date someone that I’ve known for a long time, because I’m comfortable communicating my feelings. Substance is already there. It’s just building on the relationship with these walls and boundaries that I have are very challenging for me. It’s hard for me to open up and be vulnerable. I’ve been broken so many times. I’m a heartbreak vet, by now. I’m very guarded. It’s like, if I give this love thing a try, he better be my husband. That’s why taking my time is very important to me, and I got all the time in the world. There’s no rush. We’ll see how my “special friend” works out… it’s all in God’s timing.
The Guy Review: OK on a much lighter note your smile is contagious and trust me when I say this ladies and gentlemen RaRa is just as radiant now as she was back in the day. In fact I think I just bit my bottom lip -shit.
The Guy Review: Since you were in the MMA industry for so long who are your favorite fighters?
RaRa: I have so many favorite UFC fighters – Anderson Silva, GSP, Urijah Faber, Randy Couture, BJ Penn and the list goes on and on.
The Guy Review: What was the best fight you’ve ever seen live?
RaRa: Hmmmm, there are so many. One that sticks out is UFC 79 Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva. The arena was hella loud. It was Liddell’s last great fight of his legendary career and Wandy came over from Pride so it was exciting plus Chuck won via unanimous decision.
The Guy Review: So what are your biggest turn ons and turn offs?
RaRa: The biggest turn on for me is confidence and leadership, but not arrogance. Physically, a guy has to be an athlete and tall. He also has to be spiritually aware of himself. Especially with me, when a man talks about God or how a bible verse has influenced him, that shit is sexy AF. As far as turn offs, it turns me off when a guy is really pushy, always trying to get me to come over or hang out in a physical way. That definitely won’t get me for sure. There has to be substance. I always analyze and observe men by the way they treat people. Like, if we go out and he pays, I pay attention to how much he is tipping the waiter/waitress. Or their mannerisms. Like, how polite they are to people. You can really know someone’s character by the way they treat others.
The Guy Review: Do you have a website where people can see more information on your cause and what they can do to help?
RaRa: Yes, it’s www.rararocks.com
The Guy Review: Here’s five random questions people probably don’t know about you.
What’s your favorite TV Show:
RaRa: GAME OF THRONES
Who is your biggest inspiration?
RaRa: I have a lot of inspirations. But currently, right now, Mauro Ranallo is an inspiration to me. He is actually one of my “rocks.” I love how he is advocating for mental illness right now. I encourage everyone to watch “Bipolar Rock N Roller” on Showtime. It’s so inspiring. He rocks for that!
Who’s your biggest celebrity crush?
RaRa: UFC fighter Brian Ortega. I soooo want to braid his hair. The way he carries himself is attractive. I love his post fight interviews where he advocates to help make the world a better place. That’s so attractive.
You’re into sports right? Do you have a favorite football team?
Rara: Raaaaaaiiiiidddddddeeerrrrrrrrrs!!!
The Guy Review: I Love You LOL.
The Guy Review: What about your favorite basketball team?
RaRa: Dubs (Warriors)
The Guy Review: Booooooooo!! Nevermind
The Guy Review: OK I lied. One more random question. One of our lead editors said he met you at a casino in Vegas playing blackjack. He said that he tried using some cornball pickup line like “hey girl, you want fries with that shake?” or something like that. One, is that true and two did it work?
RaRa: LOL that shit was funny so yeah. We actually became good friends.
In all seriousness, thanks for meeting up with us Tamara. Your soul on the inside matches with your beauty on the outside. What you are doing is truly inspirational. Stepping up like this in the midst of all this adversity is commendable. For reaching out right away the National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week – 800-656-HOPE(4673). RaRa is where resiliency, compassion and love all combine. She’s the definition of #Pussypower and yes #RaRaRocks can also double as objects to throw at someone’s groin area. Keep up the fight RaRa. To join the fight go to https://www.rararocks.com/.
– The Guy Review –
