MMA Fighting - The A-Side Live Chat w/ Lauren Murphy

Episode Date: May 5, 2020

For this episode, UFC flyweight Lauren Murphy joins José Youngs and Alexander K. Lee to discuss some of the top story lines in the world of MMA. Some topics may include her previous win over Andrea Lee at UFC 247, Eddie Alvarez's coaching sting on The Ultimate Fighter, the state of the UFC’s 125-pound division, Roxanne Modafferi’s recent callout, the upcoming UFC 249 card on May 9 in Jacksonville, featuring title fights between Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje, Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz, and Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, as well as the planned cards on May 13 and 16, featuring Anthony Smith vs. Glover Teixeira and Alistair Overeem vs. Walt Harris. Follow José Youngs: @JoseYoungs Follow Alexander K. Lee: @AlexanderKLee Follow E. Casey Leydon: @ekc Follow Lauren Murphy: @LaurenMurphyMMA Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Instacart, you get groceries that over-deliver, like when you get groceries that are the same prices in-store. With no markups that select retailers, you get in-store products for in-store prices, and the only thing that isn't in-store is you. That means you could order in-store products at in-store prices while you're in sweatpants, in spin class, in stuffy work meeting, in anywhere but in store. So download the app today and get $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Service fees exclusions in terms apply. You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. I found out I'm allergic to coffee. I could not live in a world.

Well, I switched a tea, so it's not that bad. I couldn't live. I couldn't operate. I would be depressed. It's funny you even bring that up because I like, I switched to tea for a long time. And then the last couple of weeks I've been like trying some coffee, you know. And it's been really good. I've been loving it, but this morning I just woke up feeling super sick.

So I think I have to go back to my tea for a while. I didn't have coffee yesterday and I thought up my body was going to fall apart. I'm on like a five cup a day. I'm like a five cup a day guy and it's just pure black. Like so black there's an event horizon, no cream, no nothing, just stick caffeine in my body. But anyway, we can talk about coffee for an hour. I mean, I could talk about coffee for an hour, but this is, of course, the AXI Live chat. Oh, Jose, people are here.

I'm going to plug this company that's been really. good to me. Blackout coffee. They're really awesome. Check them out. And if you go to my Instagram, you get money off. So you don't even have to go to the store to buy it. They'll deliver it to you and get money off if you go to the link in my Instagram bio.

There you go. 100% check it. I'm always looking for a good coffee. Yeah. They're just really, really good. Yeah. Well, of course, this is the A-Side Live shot here on M.AFighting.com. I am Jose Young's host of this lovely podcast.

Joining me is my normal Monday co-host, Alex K. Casey Leiden, the producer-director, camera extraordinary running the scene, and soundboard. Of course, everyone, especially Molly McCann, loves those air horns. And Lauren Murphy is joining us. I don't know where she is on my school. Whoa!

Oh, and there's a dog coming in hot. This is Penny. I knew she was going to crash the interview. She did warn us ahead of time, and we said, do not stop her, let her to crash whatever interview she wants. Hey, Penny. You guys, any questions for Penny?

Penny is here. I shouldn't say. I don't know if Penny wants to answer questions. I shouldn't say that. She's so photogenic. She is definitely like one of the most popular parts of my Instagram. She's such a goofball. She is playing the cameras perfectly. But before we get into the fan questions, Lauren, I have to ask,

how are you handling quarantine life amid this pandemic down in Houston? I know we were talking a little bit before. You just moved down there. Well, not just moved down there, but you did move from Phoenix to the Houston area. So how's life in quarantine? Man, it honestly really hasn't been bad. I've been really enjoying this time. I'm lucky because I obviously live with my husband,

and he's a black belt, and he coaches me often. He corners me in all my fights. And so we have a really, really nice mat room with wall mats and a bunch of workout equipment. So actually, this time I've used to really improve some parts of my game that I felt needed a lot of work. And it's been really a lot of fun. me a lot of confidence to kind of plug up those holes in my game. And I'm excited. I hope I get a chance to use them in my next fight. So it hasn't been bad. And then a lot of the gyms here will open up for like private sessions. Every once in a while we'll get like a small group of three or four

fighters together and we'll have like a wrestling practice or a sparring practice or something like that. So it really hasn't been too bad. And Texas has not been really hit as hard by the virus as a lot of the rest of the nation, especially like New York City, where they've just been getting hammered. It just doesn't really look like that here, luckily, and hopefully it won't. So, yeah, quarantine hasn't been too bad. Lauren, a lot of the far as we talk to, they have, like, young children, but you have a young man. You were raising a young man. I think he's in college now?

Is that right? He's not in college, but he just graduated in May. Okay. When we moved to Houston, he moved back to Alaska. So he's 18 now, and he was like, he loves Alaska. He grew up there. He loves the weather. He loves the green.

He has a bunch of our family still lives up there. So he wanted to move back up there. And unfortunately, he's an adult. And so I just, I couldn't stop him. I couldn't hold on to him anymore. So I had to let him go. How's he doing? He's doing really well.

He was working at a planet fitness. When he moved up there, he got a job at Planet Fitness. And of course, that's all shut down right now. So he's really an introverted kid as well. He's in a lot of ways he's my polar opposite, which I really appreciate. And so he's actually been loving the quarantine because it's like an introverts dream. Yeah, well, like Alex said, we've had a lot of fighters on the show with young kids, and they go over how they just, they have to have the tour.

talk with their kids. Like Anthony Smith has like young daughters and they're being like, Dad, why can't I go to my friend's birthday party these anymore? And they're like, well, everyone is sick. I'm sorry. So you don't have to have that conversation with an 18 year old, though. So he's enjoying it. He's enjoying it. I totally understand that. The introverts life, I kind of appreciate that as well. He's a really good kid. I'm super proud of him. He's doing really well. Casey, how's quarantine life for you since we last talked? You're in California who's actually handling it better than most states. Like every weekend.

I ask Casey this every time and he always rolls his eyes a day. Like, is anything good? That's probably weird. Yeah, just like, I don't know. What days today? Days, what are days? Yeah, it's just. But now that we have, now that if it feels like 249 will happen, this is a real,

like, when the original 249 was booked in Lemore or whatever, I was like, it ain't happening. Of course, it ain't happening. It never happened. But this one, it feels like it's happening. So now life feels like there's some sort of something's going on. Because before it was just one day and another day. But now there's a goal somewhat.

So yeah. Casey, how about that Katz movie, though? Is that what we're here to talk about? I just want to say, I want to tell all our readers, we got Casey who had watched the Cats movie over the weekend and sent out some questions, like just some thoughts on social media, was true, some questions. and we were going to talk about it more. You should all thank Lauren that we're not going to talk about it because she hasn't seen it.

So all of you viewers who did not want to hear about the Cats movie, which I don't know why you wouldn't want to. You can thank Lauren we won't talk about it. Jose has not seen it either. So we don't want to spoil it. It's a real movie. Oh, trust me. You won't spoil anything, Alex. A little spoiler.

Oh, Casey. Go. Lots of cats in it. Lots of cats. Sorry. Well, cats or no cats. Casey, of course, we have a lot of questions. would imagine for Lauren as she's making her debut on the A side.

So for our first, for our lovely listeners, what is our first question? Hmm. First question. Oh, this is cats related. This is a cat-related question, Casey. Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. My fault. My fault.

I will answer it while you did it on purpose. Oh, yeah, but only an accident. Totally an accident. Welcome to the cat side. Okay, sorry, that was just a little mistake. We'll fix that. We'll fix it in post. Sorry by that, guys.

Huge God. I will answer that. I'll answer that later, everyone. I'll answer that question. There's another cat's question. Come on. Come on. I am so sorry.

I don't know how these buttons work. I don't even know what these questions are. I blame Penny. I think Penny one of them cats questions. Yeah, exactly. Penny definitely is into the cat's movie. Yeah, yeah. You can't wait to watch it either.

Oh, God. All right, all right, okay. Here we go, here we go. An actual MMA question. From Cam Kelly at Cam Kelly gang on Twitter. MMA has a lot of great characters and some great quotes. What are some of your favorite quotes or call-outs? Example.

Jeremy Stevens, I didn't know we were allowed to turn down fights. Spell Jeremy Stevens last name wrong. I'm sorry. It's a pH. NoV. But I'll start with Lauren. What are some of your favorite? favorite quotes and callouts. It could be directed to you. It could be your callouts of other

fighters, but what are some callouts that stand out in your mind? Oh, Nate Diaz comes to mind right away. He's the man. I love the Diaz's and, yeah, Nate's the man. And all his callouts are just, I don't think they're prescripted. It doesn't seem to me like they're prescripted. I think they're off the cuff on the fly in the moment. And that's kind of what makes him so great. But because of his callouts, you know, he got that really epic fight with Connor McGregor where he submitted Connor and that turned into uh you know the the next fight with Connor and hopefully a trilogy someday um he called out George Mosvidal and that you know that was awesome he's a gangster but he ain't no West Coast gangster I love was the Connor one your favorite one the uh you've

taken everything I've worked for I've liked that a lot because it was so ballsy but the the BMF call out was pretty badass too yeah I think they're pretty equal like yeah I just I really like the way Diaz. I like the way he runs his mouth. I like the way he fights. I really like that guy. Yeah, it's 100% genuine. And that's, I'm with you on that. Where anytime Nate is on the mic, you have to listen. Because I think he knows who he's going to call out, but everything he says is off the top, it's like you said off the top. I think it is super genuine. Mazur doll is the same way. He kind of has that character with it. Alex, what are your favorite callouts?

I'm a note of GSP stand. I'm a note of GSP stand. And I kind of agree with Lauren. Like, it's the, it's the authenticity that makes the, like, the best callouts so good. Like, they don't have to... Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh, Alex is the one with the internet issues this time. Those are the ones...

Alex, you got to start over. Hold on my back, on my back. We can hear you. Move your face. You're frozen. That's not how you... I'm just going to keep this freeze frame on you for a while. I've actually just been holding...

that expression. So you can hear me. You can see you now. You're back. Authenticity. It wouldn't be the AISI without college reason. I have some bad internet. I have worse internet. It wouldn't be, yeah, authenticity is what makes it call a lot great. I love GSP on big GSP stand. So of course, I am not impressed by your performance is my favorite because it's not like it's so insulting, but he, you know, the way GSP is, it can kind of come off like he didn't really mean to be and yet somehow that made it worse. even more disrespectful. And again, like Lawrence said, it's set up a big fight and it continued a feud and it just

serves so many purposes. So I love that clip. I could watch that clip a million times. I think it's a great, great moment. Casey, your favorite callout or quote from MMA, you've been covering this for a long time. So what are the ones that stand with you? You've probably been behind camera for more fighter interviews than any other cameraman on the planet.

So what are something that stand out by you seen in person? You know, you guys were talking about Nick Diaz. I want to talk about Nick Diaz. my favorite call out was back in the lead-exe. Don't be scared, homie? No, no, no, no, no, no. Better than that. It was when he fought KJ.

No, no, no, KJ Noons had just defeated Eve Edwards in Hawaii. Nick Diaz was on the undercard, or the pre-lil, maybe a couple of fights before. And Nick had just lost the KJ a few months before. So after Nick won, he won the belt, the Leexe belt over Eves. Nick and Nate come to the cage, and then Nick grabs the mic and, basically says something because KJ's girlfriend was in the cage his family was in the cage.

And he says, if you're a ninja in a tree waiting to assassinate someone, you don't bring your girlfriend with you. And that was it. And I was like, yeah, that makes sense. And then they got in a big fight in the cage. You don't. Shocking. Yeah. That's when I just remember.

It's like, oh, that's just so brilliant. I think the one that's the GSP one that stands up for me is when he got down on his knees and begged for the rematch with Matt Hughes. Because he couldn't. That's why that one was so sincere because his English wasn't where it is now. So he wanted to say I'll ask fair and square, but he said I'll ask fairly squarely. And then he apologized. He goes, I'm sorry. My English.

And so it was like he, he, the way his broken English and then immediately apologizing for having broken English. even though he just won a fist fight and he's asking for a rematch, it was so genuine and so sincere. He didn't get the, I don't think he got the rematch right away, but that is my favorite one because we're talking about authenticity. I think that defines it right there. So Canadian. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Actually, my second favorite callout was Fabricio Verdum trying to fight, getting a rematch with Alistair Overim.

And Verdom's English was a little, you know, he was still working on it. So he kept calling Overreem. he goes, you're too much cock, too much cock. So then after we explained to Ferrisio's like, oh, okay, I think you meant cocky. The difference between cocky and cock. And he was like, oh, my God. So, yeah. Lauren, what's been the best call out that you've heard directed at you?

Gosh, I don't know if anybody's ever called me out directly. I don't think so. If they did, maybe just like on Twitter, I can't really remember. I don't know. Do you guys know of anybody ever calling me out? Well, Jose, go ahead. Now that you bring it up,

I have a message sent to me for you from Roxanne Matafari. She was on our show a couple episodes ago, and we asked her, what are three fights she is most looking forward to in 2020? What three female fights? First one, she said, was her teammate Jojo fighting Valentina.

And the second one she said is, me versus Lauren Murphy. That was the second fight she's excited for us. She has sent me this. Ask Lauren that Roxanne wants to know when we're fighting. I want to know when to stop eating, quote, excessive Mexican food. Just keep eating at Roxanne. You good girl.

No, actually, so you were talking about if I ever called out anybody and I called out Roxanne after my last fight. But Dana had told us, don't swear. You're on ESPN. Don't swear. And I have a real big potty mouth. I can't go more than like five seconds without dropping an F-bomb or something. And so I wanted to say, Roxanne, I'm going to fight your fucking ass. But I couldn't. Like I had to pause and it got kind of jumbled in there. And I was kind of messed up because you're on camera. And I'd just gotten punched in the head a bunch of times. And then I couldn't swear. And so it kind of messed up my flow a little bit. But yeah, Roxanne, I don't know. That's a good question. July? International Fight Week? Vegas. Oh, I don't think they're doing international fight week. But we can fight in Vegas in July. I'd be down with that. Even the end of June is fine with me. There you have it, Roxanne. Question asked, answer given July, Roxanne Modifari, Lauren Murphy. I love. But yeah, she didn't even give a third fight. She's like, those are the only two fights that matter to me for the rest of the year. My teammate fight for the belt and then me fighting Lauren Murphy. She did say every time someone, because someone, she thought she was going to fight you instead of Macy Barber, but then she was. She fought Macy Barber instead. So it seems like every time she thinks she's going to fight you, it never works out, she says.

Yeah, we were. I think there was a verbal agreement for us to fight previously because I thought I was going to fight Roxanne previously. And then the UFC got together and they were like, no, we're not going to have you guys fight. We want you guys to fight Macy and Andrea. And so that's how that worked out. And then we both won those fights.

So it seems to make sense that we would fight each other next. Plus, I think she's ranked number five and I'm ranked number six right now. Right. So it makes sense. We're ranked right next to each other. I'm trying to break into the top five. And, you know, it's like if you look at the other girls in the top five right now, I think Roxanne just makes the most sense because Jessica I's coming off a huge weight miss.

Viviani's coming off a loss. I've already fought Caitlin Chukagian, but that was at Bannamweight. So we probably will have another fight at flyweight, I would imagine. and then I think Jennifer Maya is coming off a big weight miss too. And so I think that's the other four women in the top four. So I don't want to fight somebody that missed weight, and especially by how much those girls have missed it by, that just to me that's not,

it's so unprofessional. And it just makes it so likely that it would happen in our match that I'm not really interested in fighting those girls if they can't make weight. So Roxanne's kind of the only one that makes sense right now. Well, I think your words echo what Roxanne was saying, too, because I think every fighter she's lost to since coming back to the UFC has missed weight. Yeah. Like Sejara, Jennifer Mai, and then everyone that she's fought that's made weight, she's won. So she's like, if she can make weight, I'm down to fight everyone.

I was at her fight against Macy, and when Macy was weighing in, Roxanne and her whole team was standing with the media watching. And then if you go back and watch that video, when Macy makes weight, you hear a huge, like, pop in the background. It was all Roxanne's team. They were all cheering when Macy Barber made weight. Yeah, yeah. It's a huge deal. I think missing weight is cheating, you know? And it's like if you can't make the weight, then don't agree to the fight.

And especially women that have, you know, 10 or 12 weeks to get ready, you have plenty of time to get down to a reasonable weight. Like, it might suck and you might have to put in a lot of work and you might have to be hungry a little bit during your camp. But that's the weight that you have signed. You signed a contract to make that weight. It's like our two jobs. You make weight is the first thing. And then show up and fight is the second thing. And making weight is like the first step to that.

So it really drives me crazy when people miss weight. It drives me nuts because I know how much I suffer to make weight. Like I really, really have to watch what I eat. I diet really hard. I hired a nutritionist to help me through all my camp. So I'm paying money to make weight. And then these other girls will just miss by like, six pounds or seven pounds and it's a huge advantage for them it's cheating and here i am literally

paying a guy to help me make weight you know so it just it it drives me nuts to know that um there's not a bigger penalty for missing weight is there uh is there an amount of like weight missed that you would definitely say i'm not fighting this person like two pounds over three pounds over five pounds over. Just depends who it is. Yeah, it would just depend on the situation. Like when we thought Sejara, because she had missed weight, she missed weight for every fight she had, except for with me.

You know what I mean? It was like, damn it. But it just would really depend. Like, was somebody like Sejara, it was like, okay, if she misses weight by one pound, then fuck her. Like, I don't, she doesn't deserve to fight. You know what I mean? That was kind of how we were viewing it.

And then she made weight, so it was fine. We were able to proceed with the fight. but it just depends like if they're a chronic weight misser uh it depends on you know their last performance depends on where they're ranked uh like what the what the out like the consequences of the fight might be so if it's a high level fight where like maybe a contendership uh position is on the line then it's a really big deal you know well it's also like in las Vegas there's like a five pound weight limit miss right Casey that's what happened with uh yeah grasso and carriega delia Grasso missed weight and Cloudie accepted it, but then Las Vegas axed it because she had missed weight by it too much.

Yeah, some of the commissions will do that. And then sometimes, too, they'll just make it into a catch weight so that the other fighter doesn't have to make weight. But it doesn't really matter because if you have somebody that, can you guys hear that? That's a lawnmower in the front. Is that right? No, we can't hear it at all. Okay. If somebody gets to carry around a lot of weight their entire camp, it makes a big difference. You know, you're all fueled up for all your cardio sessions. You're all fueled up for all your sparring sessions. You get to exercise having that much more power. Like, it really, when you're carrying five, six, seven extra pounds through your whole camp that your opponent doesn't have the luxury of carrying, it makes a big, big difference in the fight too.

Lauren, since you missed, so I have to ask you because we're not the people to answer this question. When Jessica I missed weight for a recent fight, I think by a significant amount, like five pounds or something. six pounds. She said it was because of her lady issues. Is that an excuse? Or is that? No. If you prepare for a weight cut, that means that you're going to be well hydrated, right? So when you prepare for a weight cut, it's a lot of water loading and it's a lot of dieting. And then the last week leading up to the weight cut, there's a lot of little tricks that fighters do. Like maybe they'll take carbs out of their diet or fiber. obviously we dehydrate ourselves but if you have the water in you it will come out like if you work you will sweat and that weight will come out your period doesn't magically make you stop sweating it's not like that and especially not you don't have six pounds of period in you like that's ridiculous but i think that that is a excuse that women often use when they miss weight and i get that like

you might be a little more bloated uh like when you're PMSing or something but But to me, I've made weight before while menstruating. And it's like if you work, you will sweat. And if you sweat, then you will lose weight, period. Period. Get it? Period. No funny, candid.

Oh, my gosh. Well, well said, because like you said, we've heard that brought up a lot when fighters miss weight. And when they kind of say, I just kind of go, okay, like, well, What am I going to? I don't know. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'm glad you asked. Can you imagine if you tried to comment on that, Casey, like you tweeted something about it? You'd be done.

That's exactly. Like all the men and, you know, MMA is mostly men. All the men are like, they just can't, they can't say anything about it, you know? So women have kind of, they use it. I think they use it as an excuse to not make weight sometimes when really the problem probably started for them weeks before, you know? If you have to fight at 125 and you weigh 150 three weeks out from your fight, you're not going to make weight, period. You know, so period.

Comedy gold. Comedy gold. What is our next question? How did we get there from that question? How did we get there? Let's go back to California. Wait, what was the original question? Oh, it was a new one.

Oh, no. It was Roxanne asking when she was going to fight Lauren. That's how we got there. Yeah. From Sports Week MMA, Lauren has said that she came across MMA by chance when taking her son to a jiu-sit-s class. What does she think she'd be doing now if it weren't for that?

Also, has she ever spoken to Eddie Alvarez since tough? Well, if I hadn't found MMA, you know, I don't know. In a lot of ways, MMA changed my life so, so much. Because when I started this sport, I was... I was in school to do a job that I really didn't want to do. I was married to a different guy that I didn't really like. And I just had this, I was kind of surrounded by people in living this life that I didn't, not to say I didn't enjoy it, but it just wasn't for me. And when I started jujitsu and I found MMA, I started eating better.

I used to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, so I quit smoking, obviously, because I wanted to be good at the sport. I started surrounding myself with really motivated athletes that were chasing a dream, and I'd never really been around people like that before. You know, I'd never really played a sport before,

been an athlete. So it really did change my life, like, completely. And if you guys were to see who I was 10 years ago, it's like almost unrecognizable from the person that I am today, really. I have a completely, completely different life than I had when I first walked into that gym that day. And, yeah, who knows what I would be doing, but I don't think it would be good. I don't think it would be nearly as fulfilling.

I don't think it would be nearly as exciting. I wouldn't be as proud of what I've done, you know. There's just, I can't imagine what it would be like if I hadn't become an athlete. And as far as Eddie. Do we need to, do we need to, well, let's, explained to anyone who isn't aware of the history routine, Eddie and Lauren, just very quickly, he was your coach on the Ultimate Fighter, Ultimate Fighter 26. Yeah, kind of. And you guys run things philosophically. Let's put it nicely. The show is on Fight Pass if we want to go see the drama that was a developed in that show.

And as you, I think you were leaving his team, you wanted to go to the other team. Is that right? Because of, again, a disagree means you guys had had. in one darkly hilarious moment for us, he confused you with fellow castmate Barb Hanchaq and called you Barb. The discussion involved Barb. So there was some kind of rationality, but it was very rude of him. And he called you Barb,

and it was a very fiery sort of departure from his team. So obviously, everyone wants to know, of course, what happened after? And as this question says, have you guys spoken since? What's going on? Oh, hell no. If I ever saw Eddie,

maybe I would speak to him just to tell him, fuck you. Maybe. You know, Eddie was just a really bad coach. And I think maybe part of what I did really wrong was I had my expectation set so high. I thought he was going to be this amazing coach, an amazing person. And Eddie's really just an athlete. You know what I mean?

He's not a coach. And he's not a good coach for sure. But there was a lot of things that happened on the Ultimate Fighter that don't get aired. There's a lot of things that don't get aired that happened that I thought were really upsetting, that I thought were really disrespectful. He was really, really unkind to a lot of the women on that show, not just me, but a lot of the women. I just happened to be the only one that would speak up or say anything about it. And so that is the part that made it on air. But yeah, there's just, I saw that question on Twitter and I did start thinking about tough.

I haven't really thought about the ultimate fighter in a long time, but I started thinking about it after I saw that question. And I don't know, I just, I would do tough again. I really enjoyed the experience there. I loved meeting all the women. I still keep in touch with a lot of women from that show to this day. But Eddie was, he was just a really bad coach and he was kind of a bad person. He did some really, really hurtful things that just never made it on air. So unfortunately, you know, I could talk about it now, but when the show was airing, people just didn't get to see that.

Wow. Yeah. Wow. So, do you feel like it was just a misunderstanding or like, again, I don't know how much, you know, certain coaches and certain fighters, you know, train with women. I think some have more experience than others. I don't know. So I can't speak for Eddie. I don't know if he works a lot of women or not.

Did you feel that there was a misunderstanding on? that level maybe. Again, I wasn't in the house, so I can't tell. No, it was more like, more like he treated us like we were all a bunch of jokes. Like, like we were just stupid little girls with our stupid little game for our stupid little competition. And he was really degrading towards us. So like some of the things that he would do, if he talked a lot of shit about the women, even the ones on his own team to the other women on his own team. So if, if, if, if, he talked a lot of shit about the women, if, like, when one woman would lose a fight, as soon as they walked out of the locker room,

he would talk to the rest of the team about how they were quitters, they didn't belong, they weren't good enough to be there, they shouldn't be there. You know, I lost a fight to go Montanio, and then the next day he was like, you know, she's not cut out for this sport.

And he was telling my teammates that about me. And that's not just me. He did that to all the women. One of the other things, like that came to mind was like there was an episode where Ariel Beck had a panic attack, you know? And I know she's kind of susceptible to panic attacks. And Eddie actually went in there and comfort her and was like talking to her. But the thing was that he had a list of all the women in the house.

And he circled with a red marker. He put a big red circle around the girls that he thought could win the show. And he put a big red X through the faces of the women that he thought didn't have a chance. And Ariel was one of those women. He put a big red X through her face. And then he left that list sitting out for all of us to see. Do you know what I mean? And so she knew the whole season what he thought of her.

Of course, she didn't want to go to practice with a guy like that that thought that of her, that thought she had no chance and that she wasn't a good fighter, obviously. There was just all kinds of stuff that he did. He came to the house one night. Okay, we all live in a mansion, 16 women living in a mansion. and he came to the house one night with a friend of his that wasn't even a coach on the show, just a random guy that none of us had met. He got drunk with his friend in our house, watched fights that we weren't allowed to watch,

and then left and never interacted with any of us. It was super disrespectful and just like really bizarre. And so none of that kind of stuff makes it on air. But those were the kinds of things that were really upsetting to me. I just felt so disrespected and so, like, that competition was for the UFC. seat belt. That's literally my dream. And it's Eddie too, which makes it even worse because you would think a guy like that that aspires to be the champion and had been the champion

would understand how badly we wanted to win that competition. And that that competition really just meant a lot to me. I felt like I was under a lot of pressure. I was one of the few that had already, I think just Roxanne and I had already been in the UFC. So there was all this pressure to perform and do really well. And I think Eddie knew that. And I think he knows what that feeling is like. And he's talked about it a lot. And instead of helping people that were in his same position, instead he chose to humiliate them. And to me, that just seemed so wrong. So when I left the team, there was a scene of me like handing him a card.

And from the card, I thanked him for everything that he had done and told him, you know, thank you for taking the time to coach us. I understand that it's not easy to do it to. Unfortunately, like I just think, you know, going to King Gehji is the best thing for me, and I wish you, I wish you were. So I would do all that again, you know, I would act in exactly the same way. I feel bad for the women that didn't get to experience what a great coach, Justin was, and a great coach Trevor Whitman was, because they were awesome. They were so good. And I'm really, really grateful that I got to spend some people. Well, people always want to know more about the ultimate fighter and especially about that particular story. So guys, that's That was, you got a lot of story there. The only I'll add to that is Dana White said on, asked me anything on Reddit over the weekend that, oh, he said, he said, we never cut any of the good stuff. Everything you see on the show is everything that, you know,

that you guys want to see. So, that's one side of the story. Now we got the side of the story of Lauren Murphy, someone who's been on the show. So I'll just say fans, make of that what you will. You know, you guys can make your own. Wait, wait, wait. Dana said that they don't, they don't cut out the good stuff.

What are you talking about? He didn't say, he didn't say, I think he was just everything that's on it. That's just what he said. It's a 40-minute show about commercials, and they shoot 6,000 hours. All the other stuff is garbage, Casey. It's all garbage. You don't need to see.

You don't need to know. All right. Okay. You know why you don't need to see that stuff. And another thing that I didn't really realize about the Ultimate Fighter, and this was also my mistake, you know, that it's meant to build up characters for people to get invested in when they go into the UFC. You know what I mean? So you watch the show. You meet all these new faces that are in MMA that may be.

fans haven't seen before, they get to know their personalities. And then when those fighters go into the UFC, they will have a following behind them. They have their stories out there already. And so it makes sense that when people win the ultimate fighter, they're portrayed in a very good light. And people that don't win on the show are pretty expendable. And so me being a little bit older, having already been in the UFC and not having had a great run at 135, and then losing in the first round of the ultimate fighter, I put myself in. a position where I was very, very expendable to the production crew. So I hope that makes sense.

And that part is my fault. Like I did not perform well on the ultimate fighter. And if I had performed better, I think I would have had, I think they would have portrayed me in a better light. But it's my fault for not performing when I needed to. Well, now number six in the rankings. Yeah, it's really picked up since we went to flyweight. So Lauren, go ahead. With all that said, Lauren, but you said you would do it again, though.

I would. I would like to go back and do it better for one thing. I'm actually kind of excited about the opportunity to maybe fight at the apex or something with no audience, because it will be a lot like the ultimate fighter. And to me, it's going to be like a chance to do it again and do it better this time. Like, I want to show the world that I've learned from my mistakes and that, you know, I've not only learned. from my mistakes, but that I've improved so much that I can go into a situation like that and perform really well. So I do hope I get another chance. But like I said, the ultimate fighter,

I didn't get along with Eddie, but I did get along with all the other women. I still keep in touch with a lot of them to this day. So I made some really great friends. And I did have some really cool experiences on there, you know, living in a mansion like that. And just being on a show like that is a really unique and wild experience. And I like that kind of stuff. So I would definitely do it again. And I'd like to go back and do it better. Well, if Casey, you took that photo at the apex, right, Casey, of the ultimate fighter timeline. And it said like 2005 to 2018, like I had an end date. So Dana White says it's coming back, but why I put an end date on the ultimate fighter if it is coming back?

Yeah, it's like a hilly fact. The question. Yeah, it's like a tombstone. They have this birthday and when it died and it's right there on the wall. So I'm like, all right. It's the first thing you see when you walk in the apex. It's very strange. And then next to all the jerseys.

but Casey, any other questions? That was a very long but interesting answer. Wouldn't be the A side if we didn't get on long tangents. From another question of Cam Kelly, besides hard work, what personality trait do you believe helped you become successful in MMA? Cheers, this is a question. Of course, directed and Lauren, no one cares about our hard work. Stubberdness for sure. It's got to be just stubbornness.

and for me like I hate being bad at stuff and of course anybody that starts a sport is going to be bad at it and so I just wanted to improve so much that I kept coming back day after day. It's still what keeps me going back day after day because every training session you make mistakes and that really motivates me to go back and fix those mistakes just like we were just talking about with the ultimate fighter. I want to go back and do it better because I made mistakes the first time on the show. And so I kind of feel that way about every training session where it's like I have a sparring session and I'll know what I did wrong or I'll know like why I might be having a hard time in a certain area. And so to me it's really important to get better in those areas.

And I love seeing improvement. But yeah, stubbornness I think is probably one of the most important traits a fighter can have. Stubberness above talent. There you have it. I gave up on things really easily. So that's probably why my MMA career never took off. From Joseph Boza in the YouTube comments, would she take a short notice fight in this current climate in the UFC

if the USC asks her to fight with no camp? So would you take a fight with no camp in this current? You talked about a little bit at the beginning. Your situation is a little different from some of the fighters we've had on where you're still able to train. Like we had Corey Sanehagen on. He basically said his girlfriend was holding Mitz for him and she's never held Mitz in her life.

So it's been a little rough. You've still, he's like, I'm cutting weight just in case Josealdo can make to the States. And my only training partner is my girlfriend who has never trained a day in her life. Your situation is a little different. So given that, would you take a fight in the UFC on short notice given this current climate? I don't know. If I could make weight, I would seriously consider it. But like I said, I work really hard to make weight.

So short notice fights sometimes aren't even possible for me because I just simply cannot make weight in a short amount of time. you know um but um if i could make weight like if i was like super in shape and just staying super close to weight and they offered me a short notice fight i might it's it's hard to say i took a short notice fight once at bantam weight against katelyn chukagian and uh i ended up losing that fight and then i didn't get another contract it was the last fight on my contract so it kind of put a sour taste in my mouth about taking short notice fights you know it's like why do it if there's no if there's not going to be a benefit. But the other thing to think about is like where we're ranked. What is the, you know, am I going to be fighting Roxanne on short notice where the consequences

of the fight could mean a bump up in the rankings or am I going to be fighting somebody whose opponent just fell out and maybe they're ranked a little bit lower? It just kind of depends on what the story of the fight is going to be. But the biggest factor in that is whether or not I could make weight. So if you were like comfortably on, you know, if you felt you were sort of on pace, to make weight, and you were going to fight someone who was higher than you in the rankings, what would, like, what's the lowest notice you would take, like a week, two weeks? Like, what's considered, like, just extreme? Well, when I fought Barb Hanchaq, I was on, I was on weight, but at the finale, I actually did not have a fight. They, right. Yeah, they pulled me, like,

I had a fight, and then I was supposed to fight Priscilla Casuala, and she ended up not being able to get a visa. And so I begged Mick, please, let me go to the finale. I'll make. make weight. And I said, I just know one of those girls is going to miss. Just trust me on this. And so they did pull me in that fight week just to make weight. And then after Wayans, they said, okay, you're going to fight Barb Hanchaq. And that's probably the shortest notice I've ever had, which opponent I was going to fight. You know, it was after Wayans, then I found out who I was going to fight. But yeah, I mean, I feel like I'm in a good spot with the UFC right now. I'm coming off two wins. I like the contract that I'm on quite a bit. So I would I would really consider a fight on a week's notice

or two weeks notice or three weeks notice as long as I could make weight. And in case I'm forgot, Lauren, you did beat your namesake by split decision, I believe. You did go out to win. So it was worth it. Yeah. I did. Yeah. That was one of the best performances I think I've ever had. It was a really, really great experience. Her namesake. Thank you for the question, Joseph Boza. what is this I'm sorry I'm going to explain it after another cat's question for those of you who just listening

oh okay this thing of a lot of cats from Susanna fight's longtime commenter if ronda rousey is not the goat why is every possible breakthrough female prostate always referred to as the next rousey hashtag spilling the tea hashtag the a side so first question Is Rhonda Rousey the greatest female fighter of all time in your mind, Lauren? She's one of them.

It's, you know, right, I really like the interview that George St. Pierre did recently, where he said the idea of the goat is like not, it's not real. You know, there's always a bigger fish out there somewhere. Even the people that are the best in the world right now are getting their asses kicked in their sparring rounds in the gym by somebody. You know, and there's a lot of people out there that don't even fight that are amazing fighters. So it's really hard to say who the greatest of all time really is. But Ronda did something that nobody else could do. You know what I mean? And that's pretty important.

I hate to see people bash Ronda online now because she was such an amazing force in women's MMA. She changed the game for all of us. I mean, she was like shattering records, shattering glass ceilings. She was doing things and going places that nobody envisioned a woman an MMA could do. And so I think that's why prospects are often referred to as like the next Ronda Rousey because they're seen as these great forces that could be, you know, shattering the next glass ceiling, whatever that is. But Rhonda was the first to do it. And so I love Amanda Nunes. She's definitely the best in the world right now. She has been for a long time. I think she will be for a very long time, but Rhonda paved the way for all of us.

If Rhonda hadn't come along, there wouldn't even be a women's division in the UFC for any of us to fight in, you know, and she blew through the top 10. I mean, people forget so quickly, we were having discussions about how many men she could beat in the men's divisions, you know, we were talking about whether or not she could, she could beat like Caneolas, I think, or something like that. Like, she was really a force to be reckoned with an MMA. And it was not just her skill set. It was also her personality and the way she carried herself.

And I think it's really admirable. I'm a huge Rhonda fan, to be honest with you. Lauren, you started competing at 135. And you had a pretty fast start to your career. I think it's 7 and 0. I think you were doing really well in Victa. Did you ever find yourself in a deal with expectations? Like, not necessarily being called.

I don't know if you ever called the next Rhonda, but again, being that you were in her division, did you ever hear anything like, oh, you know, Lauren, like how high would the expectations for you as you kept winning and winning and winning before you came to the UFC. Actually, it was kind of the opposite I felt. I felt like people were like, she sucks. You know, but I really was really tough.

I wasn't doing judo from the time I was a young kid. I haven't been boxing since I was 15. I wasn't even an athlete. And when I competed in Invicta, I had only been training like three years. When I won the Invicta belt, I had literally been an athlete for three years, you know. and I was competing against these other women that had been training for many, many years longer than me. And so a lot of times I would get this like, like, I would get like comments from coaches and comments online and comments from teammates. And they'd be like, oh my God, like you're so raw.

But I was just really tough. I was super stubborn. I was really scrappy. And that was kind of why I think I was able to be so successful for a while. And then when I got to the UFC, it all kind of caught up with me. But, yeah, I kind of had the opposite where I think people's expectations of me were actually quite low. And it kind of showed because I was so raw in the sport and I had trained for such a short

amount of time. No right. Casey, you and I have had this. Go ahead, Casey. I was like, oh, what were the, what was the difference as a fighter when you fought Invicta at the time when you fought an Invicta, like what were the gym? jitter is different? I know obviously the money's better now,

but just as a fighter in the competition level, what was different with Invicta? I think in Invicta, I was just having fun. It was like, oh, this is just for fun. Like, I don't, to me, it wasn't like a career. And oddly enough, when I started my career, I thought, okay, I'm just going to do one fight just to see what it's like so I could tell my kids about it.

My grandkids are going to have a cool grandma, you know, that did an MMA fight once. And then I did another and I did another. And then I won a belt in Alaska and I was like, well, maybe I'll just keep fighting till I lose, you know? Like it was really just like a game. I was like, this is just a fun little thing I'm doing. And all the way through Invicta, that's how I felt about it. I was like, ah, just fight till I lose.

So I guess part of it was that I didn't take myself so seriously. I didn't really feel a lot of pressure. I was really, really just having fun and enjoying the sport and enjoying. and enjoying finding out how far I could go. And once I got to the UFC, I did feel a lot of pressure, and I started thinking, like, maybe I'm not good enough to be here. Like, maybe this isn't, maybe I'm way out of my league, maybe I'm in over my head.

And that was reinforced kind of by people around me. And so my confidence started really, really going downhill, and then my performances started going down. I just think it's so interesting how, like, once you became a full-on professional athlete, I don't know, you kind of said, the sport didn't, it wasn't as fun. Is it, is it, like, I always like,

when I'm talking to fighters, I always think that's the biggest, like, maybe the fans don't care about it, but I always find it so interesting, that transition from being a hobby, being a lifestyle, to like, okay, this is my job. Is that, was that a weird move? It was kind of weird.

And when I, after I won the Invitable, I moved to Arizona and I went to the lab. And the lab is a super tough gym. It's full of superstars. And so when I got there, I was just getting my ass kicked every day, day in and day out. And I thought, man, maybe I just need to work harder. But I've always been a real hard worker. I don't think that was the problem. I think that I was so concerned about people thinking that I was a good fighter that. I started really overtraining myself. I mean, when I look back at the workouts I was doing at that time, I'm like, oh, my God. I was just so overtrained and so underconfident. And that's such a bad mix for any athlete, any athlete in any sport. You can't be overtrained and underconfident. It has to be the other, you know, you have to be really confident and you have to really

pay attention to your rest and recovery and make sure that you're firing on all cylinders for your practices. The better practices you have, the better you're going to perform. And I was kind of doing the opposite. I was working so hard and doing so much that my practices were really bad. And I wasn't having good sparring sessions. I felt like I wasn't doing very well at all. And I think that's like, I mean, I could show up and I could fight.

Like I fought Sarah McMahon and it was a split decision. I fought Liz Karmouche. It was just razor close. Like even with Caitlin Chukagian, it was a super close fight, you know, but they were all still losses. And the coach that I had at the time was like, you're not ready for the UFC, like, you know, you got into the UFC too soon, you don't have any skills, you're not skillful enough to be there. And I believed him. Like, that's my coach. Of course I believed him, you know. And now I know, looking back, that that's not true. It's like, if you walk into

the UFC and you fight a title contender like Sarah McMahon to a split decision, that means you belong there. That means you do belong. Like, you are good enough to be there. If you go and fight somebody like Liz Karmouche, who is a title challenger in Strikeforce and the UFC, and you have a razor-thin decision that, you know, could have gone either way, then you are good enough to be there. But these are just lessons that I had to learn through my career that I think every athlete learns. I just had to learn it on a really big stage. Does that sense? Am I answering your question? Okay. Do you, we had a similar conversation with Israel at a son, and he says one of

the things that separates him from other fighters is he made all of his mistakes before he got to the UFC. Do you envy that? He's like, even in and out of the octagon, he went through all the going pains before he became who he is now. Justin Gaichi and I actually talked about this on the ultimate fighter. And he was like, man, if I could give any fighter one piece of advice, it's to lose early, you know, lose early in your career so you can learn how to deal with it, how to fall

down, pick yourself back up. And I just never had that. Not only had I never played a sport, but I never lost until I got to the UFC, you know? And it was just a really heartbreaking thing for me. It was hard for me to wrap my head around. It took me a long time to separate, like, that losing a match as an athlete does not mean that I don't belong there. It doesn't mean that I'm not a good person. It doesn't mean that I'm bad at what I do. You know, it took me a long time to learn that losses really are just part of playing a sport. You know, you win and you lose and you just have to do your best, pick yourself up and go on to the next. But that was a hard lesson to learn. And even on the Ultimate Fighter, I was still learning it. You know, it was very hard for me. And

the Ultimate Fighter is actually kind of what I think broke me of that a little bit, you know. And that's why I was able to have such a good performance against Barb and then great performances really ever since. I think I didn't perform well when I fought Sajara, but that's kind of a different story. But yeah, after that, I really started having fun because it was like, man, what are you doing this for if you're not having fun? Like, why would you go through all of this and literally get into fistfights daily with your teammates and then with your opponents if you're not enjoying what you're doing? Yeah, Lauren, what you're saying about sort of a loss, having to realize that a loss, you know, was not the end of the world and it's not like an indictment of your skills

and your talents. It kind of loops back to the, you know, with the, what's the question that started this discussion about Rhonda Rousey, you know, after she lost, of course, after one loss, she's a fraud, she was never good. Her opponents were never good. Again, look, I'm on Twitter a lot and I know everyone on Twitter is an expert. And I know that when a fighter loses, when a fighter loses, they were never good. Also, they're definitely being scared of their next opponent. If they, like, drop out of their next fight, they were definitely scared. We know that. You know, you guys, you guys are, much of security cats. You guys don't want to fight anybody.

So yeah, it's funny that you mention that because that, again, that does go back to what we that sort of the whole Rhonda thing and how easily kind of like one loss. Like, I'm amazed that you guys can get over. And that's just because, like you said, it's a personal thing. But once you're a public figure and you've got to take all this crap from all these people and all this negativity

and just kind of have to block that out and, I don't know, and rebound and get back to work, I guess. But yeah, it's funny that you mentioned that. No, my husband tells me a lot. He says it's a different kind of bravery, you know, to put yourself out there and to be willing to not only lose the fight, but then face the humiliation that can come afterwards. He said it's just a different kind of bravery that athletes have where they're

willing to put themselves out there. But I think, you know, even like having like a cool podcast or a show or something, like you guys put yourselves out there too. And then of course, everybody on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook has an opinion about everything you guys do. and now they can tell you that opinion anonymously. And it really is kind of interesting. But yeah, my husband tells me a lot, but it's a different kind of bravery. And so I try to remember that.

Well, didn't you hear, Lauren? It's our fault that the original USC 249 got canceled. I did hear that, yeah. Sorry about that. Sorry. Your fault. My bad. My bad.

Right. Sorry, everyone. Sorry. Wait, wait, hold on, hold on. I mean. I mean, it's pretty powerful position to be in, you know? All right. Any other questions we got, Casey?

Yes, we've got a couple more. This is actually directly for Lauren. From Benjamin Button, at Benjamin and then a bunch of numbers. I'm not going to read off. Why did she leave the lab and how is she liking Texas? There's been a huge improvement since going to 125. Is that because of the weight drop? So two questions from Benjamin Button.

Why did I leave the lab? Last year, a lot of fighters left the lab. There was actually kind of a mass exodus from the fight team at the lab last year. For me, it just really wasn't a good fit. And so we've already talked about what it was like to be really overtrained and underconfident. And for me, it was just a really bad mix. And I did my entire career through, well, not my entire career. I did my year, 2013, when I fought for leg.

and my three fights in Invicta, I had done fighting out of Texas. And I had a coach out here that I really, really loved. And for a lot of different reasons, I left him and I went to the lab, which I don't regret. I don't regret my time at the lab. It made me a much better athlete. And I really improved my skill set while I was out there. But it just wasn't a good fit anymore. And I was really, I wanted to be with a coach that respected me and loved me and believed in me.

And for me, I felt that was going to be so important for my career. And I knew that my confidence was really, really, really low. And that I could not continue to compete like that. And so when all those other fighters left the lab, I left the lab too. And a lot of them ended up staying in Phoenix. But I just happened to have the opportunity and the means to move to Houston. And so we did. And I came back here with my old coaches.

And I started investing a lot more in my recovery. Penny. Like she's tired of this. She's going to bed. No, it just made sense to me to be out here with a coach, two coaches actually that just really believed in me a lot. I came out here and everybody was like very excited to have me. I just felt such a difference. And so I pay a lot more attention to my recovery.

I'm not overtrained anymore. I feel very confident with my skill set, and it just made all the difference. And so I think that's actually why my performances have gotten better. But yes, going to 125 has helped a lot too. Yeah, I believe a lot of people left to go to the fight ready, if I'm not mistaken. They followed Eddie to fight ready. Yeah, yeah. Eddie Chott, not Eddie Alvarez.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and there was a lot of – there's a couple of bannam weights that stayed at the lab, like Sean O'Malley, Mario Batista, and Kyler Phillips. And they all trained really, really well together. They still do have a good team at the lab. All right. I think we'll have our last question, but this is probably the most important one. Is it cat-related?

Tyler Rashid, who's excited for the fights this weekend? Long is excited. I cannot wait. It's the best card ever. It's the best card in so, so, so long. I can't wait. And, of course, I'm rooting for Justin Gaci because love me some Justin Gagey.

There you go. Break down the main event for us. Oh, shit. Tony Ferguson's a madman, but so is Justin. Justin really is like a freak athlete. When we were on the Ultimate Fighter, Justin can literally, there was like a big pole that was a support beam

for the gym, you know, and they, I mean, they're in all the gyms, and then they usually have a pad wrapped around them so that people don't run into this pole. So Justin, could run up that pole and do a backflip off of it. He's a wild man. And I think he's just as athletic as Tony Ferguson.

He's got that knockout power. He's an outstanding wrestler. I'm really rooting for Justin on this one. I'm sure Tony's a great guy, but Tony's got real sharp elbows. So I think it is going to be a bloody fight. And Tony's got amazing cardio. So for a five-round fight, I hope Justin can get it done early. Alex, you're excited, right?

No, sorry, I was shaking my head when the question was first asked. Because I think as we mentioned before, look, we succeeded in shutting down April 18th, and that was a big big win for the MMA media. And then suddenly Dana White just says, no, I'm going to do UFC 249 anyway, and I'm moving on May 9th. So you can imagine how frustrated we are after putting all that work in to try and shut down all these events and shut down all your fights. So you don't get paid and don't get to fight.

And then he's, I'm not excited for this weekend's fights. I'm very frustrated. And the MMA media will get you, Dana White. We will get you. Watch out. We'll get you. I will bring down this economy as long as... That's what it takes.

That's what it takes. I'm tired of having a job. Yeah, right? Who needs shelter? Right. It's not even just 249. We get three fight cards in seven days. And then even won two weeks after that.

So it's basically... four fight cards in three weeks. So all in Jacksonville. So for people who want to watch some good old fashion fist fighting, you're going to have a lot of it. Yeah, I hope I do get to fight soon. I wouldn't mind fighting in Florida because I want to go to the beach. So or fight island.

Oh my God. Please send me to fight islands. Dana or God or whoever's listening, please send me to fight island. I will fight anybody on the roster. I think they're reserving it for international fighters. So I don't know, Roxanne, say you're from Ireland or something. Do something, girl. Come on, think of something.

We said before the show, you're essentially Canadian. You were from Alaska, which I consider part of Canada. So there you go. Maybe I'll apply for a visa just to get it denied so that I have to go to flight. That's funny. Well, Casey, was that our last question, Casey? Oh, we got one more. Actually, oops, get rid of that one.

All right, last one. That is, all right, I don't know what this question means. Are you from Aaron underscore 1988, are you going to make petition to release the butthole cut? I don't know what this means. Casey and or Alex, what is the butthole cut? Alex is frozen or can't hear it. So Casey, I'll leave it to you. Sorry, guys.

my internet contact again. I love my accent. I didn't know Alex was frozen. I just thought he was really contemplating the answer. Like the question is like, hmm. All right, Alex,

we'll start with these. Since you said, you were going to describe it, what does the butthole cut mean? Because I've seen this question crossed my eyes. Yeah, I'm sorry,

am I back now? I'm in fact. Thank God. Just in time to describe the botchle cut. Yeah, sorry. Lauren, I miss the last part of your answer to the last question.

But yeah, sorry, about cats. So for anyone else, no, there is, I don't know if this is true. It's a report. I think it's a fairly credible report. That there is a version, it's very true. Well, we don't know, and that's it ever comes out, but that there is a version of the cats movie where, yes, you can see that for some reason, they included buttholes on the characters.

All the characters that are anthropomorphized cats. They're very terrifying as it is, but apparently they were even more so in the original cut. So, yes, that is the butt holes. Is it Judy Dench in this movie? She's fabulous. And Idris Elba is in it. Has Maccavity. Meow.

If you watch the movie, you know what I mean? And Alex K. Lee is amazed by my... Alex is frozen again. He is absolutely shocked by Casey's hit. Alex, you can speak now. I love that. I want a cat costume with a butthole on it. Okay.

MMA fans, go to Amazon Prime. You can rent cats for like four bucks. It would be the best two hours of your life. Just put everything, get all the liquor in your home, everything. Put in your coffee table. Drink up, watch cats and just enjoy. Oh, but Google Cats movie Butthole and you will see the trailer for the new. Make sure you include.

the board movie. Don't just Google cat butthole. Well, if Roxanne does cosplay for our fight, like she likes to dress up like a Dragon Ball Z character, maybe I'll dress up in a cat butthole costume. There you go. That'll be my... Dragon Balls D's Deky needs cats. I love everything about it. Casey, is that our last question? Now that we got the butthole part out of the way.

Well, we got about four more, but... Guys, I'm so sorry, my answer has failed me during the most important part that's failed me. Alex just came back. Alex froze it once again, so I think that's a good sign that we wrap up, right, Casey?

Yeah, yeah, that's a good sign. Well, Lauren, as the guest of honor, the floor is yours to plug whatever you want before we sign off. You plugged your coffee connection at the beginning. You can bookend this episode of the A-Side with another plug. Awesome.

Well, yeah, so for sure, go check out Blackout Coffee. And if you guys go to the link that's in my Instagram bio, you'll get money off. And if you're interested in CBD, I always recommend Rodkeys. CBD products and so you'll find them all over my Instagram as well. And then I really just, I want to thank all the gyms in Houston around here that have been so good to me. So if you're

in the Houston area, you can find me at Grace, at Gracie Baja Katie or Hensdo Gracie Houston or Main Street boxing and Muay. I'm always at one of those three places. So if you're in the Houston area, come say hi. Otherwise, hit me up on Twitter or Instagram. I'm pretty fan friendly. It's Lauren Murphy, MMA, all over social media. So come say hi. Give me a follow. Come chat. Well, there you have it.

Casey, anything you want to say or Alex? I'm sure Alex is going to freeze it. Casey, anything you want to say before we sign off? I am so sorry. Hold on. I am so sorry for my internet. The most important part of the show, my internet failed me. People, someone does not want to hear my thoughts on cats.

Okay, so you're right. I won't start talking about more because it'll probably, someone is messing with my internet. They don't want to hear this. So, sorry, Casey, go ahead. Jennifer Hudson's performance in cats. Oh, God. Spectacular. Spectacular performance.

What a way to end it. This will be on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, all that good stuff. We'll be back on Wednesday, and then UFC 249 Fight Week is underway. Actually, it's underway right now. But we'll see you on Wednesday. We're out. Thank you, guys. Thanks, Lauren.