Interview with Bellator's Lynn Alvarez

Lynn "Lights Out" Alvarez is a young and rising female MMA star.  She has become famous for her decisive  first round victories in 4 of her 5 career wins.  In mid June, Lynn was offered a spot in Bellator's season 3 Female flyweight tournament and she is chomping at the bit to make a big impact.  Lynn traveled constantly growing up with a father in the military but she finally settled down in Las Vegas in 2000 where she has compiled a 5-1 record in MMA all while getting her degree in nursing and working in the telemetry unit of a Las Vegas hospital.  Lynn will square off with Jessica Aguilar at Bellator 24 in Hollywood, Florida on August 12th.

Brian Hemminger: Your original base before you started MMA was Kajukenbo, can you tell me a little about that martial art?

Lynn Alvarez: Kajukenbo originated in Hawaii.  Pretty much it's a martial art comprised of 5 different martial arts.  So "Kaju" stands for Karate, Judo and Jiu jitsu and the "kenbo" stands for Kenpo and Chinese boxing.  So Kajukenbo is a combination of all those martial arts.  What happened was the main instructor, he brought everyone from each specialty and he would throw a technique at them and each instructor would defend it in their own way and they pretty much developed the martial art out of that system.

BH: I love the story about how you got your nickname "Lights Out", would you mind sharing it with our readers?

LA: Pretty much I used to work at a gym where I was training with all boys, I was the only girl at the gym.  One time I was sparring with a boy in the gym and I hit him with a body shot and he fell over to the ground.   Ever since then everyone has been calling me "lights out" because someone was expected to get dropped if they sparred me.  None of the boys wanted to train with me after that because they said I hit too hard, or maybe they were afraid of it happening to them too (laughs).

BH: You've said in the past that you wanted to be a part of an organization that treats you fairly and gives you exposure, do you feel Bellator is the perfect fit for you?

LA: I think Bellator is perfect.  They give me all the exposure and opportunities I need.  This is definitely where I want to be and I feel like they're the optimal organization for me.  This is especially because they have so many fights so hopefully if they do keep me onboard or whatever happens in this tournament I can fight for them frequently.  I like that a lot about them

BH: How did it feel to get that call from Bellator with the invite to this prestigious tournament?

LA: I was shocked a little bit because I didn't think I was known enough.  I'm not really popular and I haven't been very active so I was shocked and I also felt very honored with this opportunity to display myself.  So yeah, I was shocked, excited, pretty much all of that I got this chance.

BH: Speaking of not being active, your first round match is on August 12th, and it will have been over a year since your last fight.  How hard has it been to find fights out on your own?

LA: It was very difficult for me and that was the main reason that I hadn't been fighting.  It was just because, I don't have an organization that can say "Oh, come fight for us this day or that day".  I had to find things on my own and I came across a lot of times that I would get offered a fight but it would be 2-3 weeks away and just from experience I wouldn't want to take a fight that I haven't had proper training to prepare for.  I've done it in the past and it didn't work out for me so I'm really set that I don't like to take fights unless I have proper notification and I can get trained physically and prepared mentally.  So that was my big issure, I could not find fights, it was difficult.

BH: So that's another advantage of being with Bellator, they can set all of these fights up for you now.

LA: Yes, definitely.  I'm really excited to be here.

BH: What are your thoughts on your first round opponent Jessica Aguilar?

LA: Jessica, I know she's a rising star in MMA and I've known about her for a long time.  When I first started I knew who she was so I feel like this is a step up for me and it's a challenge.  She's a really tough girl and I know it'll be a great fight.

BH: Do you have a prediction for this fight?

LA: Ummm, just that I'm going to win and that's it.

BH: Ok, well if your prediction holds true, there is a possibility for you to avenge your only career loss if Angela Magana also wins her first round fight, is that something you are looking forward to?

LA: I'm DEFINITELY looking forward to it.  We were supposed to fight a few times in 2009 and she pulled out twice.  It's really something I'm looking forward to and I really hope I get the opportunity.  It's not really anything against her, I just want to see how I'd do against her now, it's nothing personal.  It's just the way this sport is.  I lost, I've developed as a fighter since then, I'm on a winning streak and I'd like to see how I'd compare against her now.

BH: Four of your wins are by submission and one was a TKO, would you rather force your opponent to tap or get that highlight reel knockout?

LA: Honestly for me I don't have a preference, you know a lot of the times when I do win by submission it's because we were standing and my opponents didn't want to stand anymore so then it ends up on the ground.  I just take it wherever it is, if I can get a submission I'll go for a submission.  If I have an opportunity to finish it on the feet or with ground and pound I'll do that too.  It's just wherever the fight goes I'll be ready.

BH: A lot of people don't know that you also have a nursing degree, what is life like balancing being a full time fighter with being a full time nurse in Las Vegas?

LA: In a way it can be difficult with the scheduling because I work full time and I work night shift.  The biggest victim is my sleep schedule.  Sometimes it can be a little difficult to get my training sessions in because say maybe I get off work at 8am and then I have a training session at 12pm.  It's a little bit difficult in that aspect but I work three days on, so that means I have 4 days of just straight training where I don't have to go to work.  A lot of it is ups and downs, and you know, a lot of times during training camp the training sessions are so hard I'm like "Gosh I just can't wait to go to work because no one's gonna punch me there!"

BH: You've mentioned in the past that at some point you'll want to stop fighting and start a family.  Is that still something that is important to you?

LA: Did I say that?  I think what I may have said was at some point in the future, but for right now it's not even anything I'm considering.  I mean I have my career, I'm able to balance it with fighting.  No kids for me, that's definitely not anything I'm interested in at this moment.  I'm way more into my dog than children.  I have this little beagle that is like my little baby and I'm gonna keep it that way.  He can be my baby (laughs)

BH: Thank you so much for your time, do you have any sponsors or anyone else you'd like to thank?

LA: I'll thank my trainer which is Kenneth Rayford, Cameron Diffley and Anthony Badua.  Those are all my trainers oh and Shandon Eguchi so those four so thank you for helping me prepare!