UFC’s Lauren Murphy, A Boxer, and Brown Belt In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is currently on the road to her second title shot. After her loss against Valentina Shevchenko in the first attempt, the former Invicta FC Bantamweight champion bounced back with a dominant win against Miesha Tate and looks to keep that momentum going with a victory against #6 Ranked Jessica Andrade.
Lauren Murphy spoke exclusively with News18 ahead of her fight against Jessica Andrade.
Here are excerpts from the Interaction:
What are your plans for 2023?
Well, first, we’re going to beat Jessica on Saturday night and then after that, I’ll probably stay in Rio for a few days and just enjoy the food and enjoy the beach. And then, after that, I don’t know. Probably go home and enjoy some time with my family and that’s kind of as far as I’ve gotten for 2023.
What inspired you to be an MMA fighter?
I don’t know. Honestly. I just started taking martial arts and I thought it was a really interesting and crazy thing to do and it kind of scared me, so I was like, okay, I’m going to try it.
How confident are you heading into this fight against Jessica Andrade?
I know I’m going to be there and I feel great, like, everything’s on point. We practised hard, and I understand what the game plan is, we’ve practised it a lot and it’s just a matter of going out and executing it now. So I feel good.
How has training camp been so far?
It’s been amazing. I trained up in Denver at Elevation and we have just a really great women’s team up there. I think it’s the best women’s team in the world right now and I’ve gotten a lot of really great sparring rounds, and a lot of great drilling. I have awesome coaches that I feel really clicked with myself, and with each other and yeah, we got a good thing going on right now. It really makes me feel confident. It makes me feel happy. It makes me feel relaxed, so there’s no better way to go into a fight than knowing you can win, knowing what you’re supposed to do, knowing it’s going to work, and feeling good about doing it.
In your fight against Miesha Tate, we could see how much you’d improved overall, even in terms of your wrestling and takedown defence, we could see significant improvement. Is there any specific aspect of your game that you want to improve or have been working on in camp for this fight?
I’m just trying to improve myself everywhere, you know, like I wouldn’t I wouldn’t want to come to an interview and talk about exactly what we’re going to do. You know what I mean? But I know that I’m gonna go out there and I’m going to execute what we’ve been practising, and I feel like I’m such a well-rounded fighter that there’s really nowhere that if I can go that I’m going to be in trouble, you know, I’m good everywhere. I’m good on the ground. I’m good in the clinch. I’m good at striking. I have a lot of reach over her. I’m going to be the bigger, stronger fighter in there on Saturday. I think I just have advantages everywhere in this fight, to be honest.
Post-match against Miesha Tate, you took the Mic back from DC to give us a taste of your determination, you called this fight 7 months back in July, and now you’re heading down to Brazil for the fight, what message are you looking to send with that?
You know, I just wanted to show that I’ve grown so much since that fight with Valentina. And I wanted to show all my improvements, show that I can handle the pressure, show that I can take fights against, you know, UFC Stars, against other contenders, against former Champions, you know. These are the kind of fights and the kind of challenges that I need to build my confidence and really have a successful road to the title so that I can be a successful title holder in the UFC. In my first run to the title, you know, the division looked so different and I got some good wins on the way up, but I don’t think they prepared me very well to face somebody like Valentina. So that’s kind of what I’m focused on right now, really taking these tough fights, dominating these tough fights and that’s what’s going to prepare me to actually be the champion, you know.
You’ve spoken about your regrets with the Valentina fight, but you bounced back with a win against Miesha, now, would getting the win against Jessica mean that you get your 2nd title shot guaranteed?
I don’t think anything is guaranteed, there’s nothing guaranteed in the UFC, but I think it’s definitely a big step in the right direction.
When that second title shot does come around, do you feel like you are better prepared now?
Now at this point to get the win against Valentina. Yeah, I definitely would be, you know, because I changed so much about like my camp and my team and the people around me. I changed my attitude a lot. Like I just changed a lot after reflecting on that loss and you know those changes aren’t for nothing. They are going to bear some fruit like those changes aren’t for nothing. All I Do is keep practising those changes, showing that I’ve made them and we’ll see what happens, you know, and if it’s in the universe’s plan then it’ll happen.
Having been in the UFC for 9 years, what are some of the most memorable moments in your career so far?
Definitely my first win in the UFC. It was a finish, it was a TKO. It was a bonus-winning Victory. You know, we got fight of the night that night, that was one of the coolest nights of my life. Going to Fight Island, was a really cool experience, and then honestly, coming to Rio has been so great. We really liked it. So those are probably the top three right now off the top of my head.
Predictions for UFC 283?
I hope that Glover wins. I love Glover’s story. I love what he does. So I’m hoping Glover wins and then also I’ll go with Figgy (Deiveson Figueiredo). I Haven’t paid too much attention to that fight, but I’ll go with Figgie for the Figge (Deiveson Figueiredo) – (Brandon) Moreno fight. And then obviously I’m betting on myself. So I’m going to get finish off Saturday night with a huge statement.
Top MMA Fighters of all time?
Anderson Silva, Ronda Rousey, Robert Whittaker, Forrest Griffin
If not MMA, what do you see yourself doing?
Oh, I don’t even know. I don’t even want to think about that. I have no idea. It wouldn’t be as cool though.
Any messages for your fans especially in India?
I just want to say, I love you guys, and keep watching because it’s just going to keep getting better and better. You know, I’m not even close to my ceiling yet and I think I have a lot of good fights in front of me, and I can’t wait to show him.
Watch the LIVE coverage of UFC 283 – Teixeira vs. Hill on Sony Sports Ten 2 (English), Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi) & Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels at 8:30 am IST on 22nd January 2023.
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