Former Invicta bantamweight champion Lauren Murphy had the opportunity to be coached by former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez at the 26th season of The Ultimate Fighter. But her experience was something she is not willing to cherish, to say the least.
The 34-year-old Murphy was eliminated from the TUF 26 as early as the tournament’s first round, losing via unanimous decision to Nicco Montano. In a recent interview, she spoke how she was jealous of the women who were trained by Alvarez’s opposing coach, Justin Gaethje.
“I was definitely really resentful about it and I was really very envious of the girls on Team Gaethje, because they were allowed to have rest days whenever they wanted, they were having a lot of fun on their team. It seemed that their coaches really treated them with a lot of respect and I felt like I was getting the shitty end of that deal, having Eddie as a coach.”
Alvarez went on to air his side of the story on Sirius XM’s MMA Tonight, where he essentially spoke about how Murphy was more of a problem for him deal with.
“I understand you’re there for yourself, but you didn’t even fight anybody on the other team yet,” Alvarez said (via MMA Fighting). “You didn’t even get past your first fight against Team Gaethje and you conspired two or three times already against the girls on our team that you’re gonna be in the gym with every day.”
“So I’m like, man this girl is a little bit of a head case and she’s kind of looking at everyone as her enemy. It just didn’t make for a good attitude in the room or a good person to even have around. She was conspiring from the very beginning.”
Alvarez adds that Murphy’s seven-year MMA experience was a non-factor, and that she should have just taken in all the mentoring from all the other coaches in the team.
“I’m not tooting my own horn, but if you have 10 fights you’re still a baby. You’re still kind of a baby — girl, guy, whoever you are,” Alvarez said. “When you get a chance to be coached by Mark Henry, Marlon Moraes, and some of these guys who have just been through it, you should be nothing but appreciative. You should bow your head when they enter the room. You shouldn’t have a know-it-all attitude.”
“That was my issue with that girl. I didn’t care — it was better if she didn’t come to practice. She had a shitty attitude.”
Alvarez is set to take on Gaethje at UFC 218 on December 2nd in Detroit.