IT was 3 o’clock on an unusually warm autumn afternoon and Ottavia Busia Bourdain, the wife of Anthony Bourdain, the professionally profane chef and host of “No Reservations,” rolled around on a Midtown Manhattan floor with another man. They grunted and groaned.

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.