Lauren Murphy once forbid her young son from watching her fight in case she was violently knocked out.- Murphy's love for combat
sports was born when she took her son, Max, to a jiu jitsu class when he was eight years old 11 years ago. - She said Max is now all grown up, proud of who is mom is as a professional ass-kicker in the
UFC , and loves that she stars in the UFC video game. - Murphy was visibly moved when she was speaking about her love for her family during a
Fight Island media event, just days before a flyweight match Saturday at UFC 254.
FIGHT ISLAND — UFC women's flyweight fighter Lauren Murphy, a 37-year-old mother, once forbid her young son from watching her fight in case she got violently knocked out.
Murphy fights Liliya Shakirova on the main card of Saturday's behind-closed-doors UFC 254 event at the Flash Forum on Fight Island, Abu Dhabi.
Murphy's love for fighting began when she took her son, aged eight, to a jiu jitsu class in 2009. She said 11 years later her son, Max, is now all grown up and very proud of her.
"He's very proud now," Murphy said at a Fight Island press event which Insider attended Tuesday. "He was 8 when we did that and he's 19 now so he's all grown up and out of the house."
She said: "I think at first it was awkward for him. I did not let him attend any of my fights as a child because I was afraid if I got hurt … no little boy wants to see his mom get hurt.
"So I never let him see me fight live. As he get older I left it up to him but he was nervous about it. He would watch them afterwards [on tape] and if I won he was always encouraging.
"He loved when I would go to jiu jitsu tournaments and he even signed up for one himself one time."
Murphy enters UFC 254, one of the UFC's biggest events of the year, one a three-fight win streak. She has already fought twice this year and once in the pandemic-era having beaten Roxanne Modafferi in Las Vegas in June.
"My last fight against Roxanne was the first one he ever watched live and that really meant a lot to me."
Recalling the incident moved Murphy to the brink of tears, and she momentarily looked away from the media.
"The UFC commentator Jon Anik was talking about him on TV," she said. "It's kind of making me emotional right now. Jon Anik was mentioning him and I just know he was so proud and so happy about that."
Being a disciplined athlete sets a great example, Murphy said
According to Murphy, being a professional ass-kicker for the world's leading mixed martial arts firm sets a great example.
"One of the cool things is that he's watched me grind for so long and for now to be at this level, being in the [UFC] video game is a big thing for him. I think that means a lot.
"That's important for a child to see that in their parents, and I don't know if I could have set a better example for him doing anything else," she said.
Scroll right to see photos of Murphy with her son through the years:
Murphy also said that her husband flew to Abu Dhabi with her, and that the amenities inside the bubble are so good that when they were told they could break quarantine, they didn't.
"Fight Island has been awesome," she said. "I've got my husband with me. My husband is my rock. He's really one of my biggest supporters.
"We flew business class coming over here. We've been in a corner suite. When the quarantine was over, we didn't even leave our hotel room. We finished our breakfast, got dressed … took our time."
Fight night is fast approaching for Murphy, who is tasked with tackling a late addition to the 12-bout card Liliya Shaviroka.
"I think she's a lifelong wrestler, she's a grappler. I was preparing for a grappler. She's got a good record and was a champion in another organization so that's good, good, good, good, good.
"And then I have brilliant coaches. Within the first two minutes of the fight [they'll] know what she's up to, and will tell me what to do to win the fight."
Read more: