FIGHTING WORDS: LAUREN TAYLOR
Late addition to Invicta FC 5, Lauren Taylor, will attempt to climb the next rung on the ladder, when she returns to face off against battle hardened veteran Sarah D’alelio at Invicta FC 6 on July 13th.
Though it may sound like an oxymoron, Taylor is only interested in one thing in the cage; fighting. Taylor aims to inflict as much damage as possible against battle seasoned veteran D’alelio, and will undoubtedly entertain the crowd at the same time.
Corey Smith: You last appeared at Invicta FC 5, earning the biggest win of your career against Kaitlin Young. How did that feel about securing the win and your performance that night?
Lauren Taylor: Well, of course it feels great to win, especially against a tough opponent like Kaitlin! It was really good to have a fight that went the distance, it exposed a lot of holes in my game for us to fix. I remember being pretty hard on myself after the fight for not finishing her, but there is nothing to change that now.
CS: How confident where you that the judges would score the fight in your favor?
LT: Extremely. I know judges screw up fights sometimes, and I was bummed I didn’t finish Kaitlin, but if they had scored in her favor, I might have had a tantrum right there in the cage.
CS: That was your second fight in roughly a month, do you think having just come off of a fight helped your overall conditioning with such a short camp? Do you feel like any part of your game suffered with a short camp?
LT: I actually like short camps better. It’s less time to think about your opponent and stress out, they cost less money, and burnout and injury isn’t as likely. My conditioning was already alright from my last fight, and I worked really hard in the two weeks I had to make it even better.
CS: What did you see in your last fight that you wanted to work on?
LT: Ha! One thing is I brought too many shirts and not enough pants last time, which is why I walked out in my pajamas. I wasn’t trying to be like…gimmicky or whatever, I just really didn’t have any other pants to warm up in. So maybe this time I’ll try using my brain while I’m packing.
LT: Other than that, I am always working on everything, every day, to be the best mixed martial artist I can be.
CS: Was there any hesitation in taking the short notice fight against such a high level opponent?
LT: Nope, I don’t think so. I had a good feeling about it, which I know sounds stupid, but there it is. I knew I could win the fight. And if I didn’t win, who cares? It’s not a shame to lose to someone like Kaitlin. Everyone loses at some point, so I’m not too worried about any of that.
CS: What do you think the win showed about your abilities?
LT: That I’m tough. I’m just hard to beat, you know? Kaitlin had me mounted, took my back, locked on a nasty body triangle, flattened me out, had me triangled. That first round sucked….I was in a lot of bad positions in that fight, but I never stopped fighting or broke mentally.
LT: I think that’s because my camps are so hard. I really go through hell in a fight camp, so the fight is a lot easier. It really speaks more about the team I have behind me than anything for myself.
CS: This was your first experience fighting for Invicta FC, what was the experience like?
LT: AMAZING. Invicta is top level, and they run themselves as such. What an awesome promotion. The fighters are treated so well, everything is very detailed and well thought out. They have made themselves one of the top promotions in MMA, and I was really proud to be a part of that. I have never been treated better or been part of a better promotion.
CS: You mentioned that you met many of your MMA idols. Was there anyone in particular that left you star struck?
LT: I don’t know about star struck. Everyone was so nice, so it was easy to kind of relax. I really enjoyed meeting Sarah Kaufman, Alexis Davis, Marloes Coenen, Cyborg….all really nice ladies.
CS: Your next opponent at Invicta FC 6, Sarah D’Alelio, will pose another stiff test. How familiar are you with Sarah, and how do expect the fight to go?
LT: I’ve seen her fight. She seems to prefer the ground game but doesn’t mind standing and banging with people like me. I think her stand up has probably come a long way, and her ground game is great.
LT: So it’s going to be an awesome fight. I don’t really care where it goes. We can stand and bang if she wants; that sounds like fun to me. I’m a pretty good wrestler and decent on the ground myself, so let’s do it. No matter where it goes we’re beating the hell out of each other.
LT: I think I’m the underdog in this fight, which takes some pressure off me as well. She’s ranked in the top ten, and I’m not, so I think she has more to lose in this fight than I do.
CS: Invicta has quickly gained a reputation of putting on exciting cards top to bottom. Do you feel any extra pressure to continue that reputation?
LT: No, because I don’t think about it like that. I’m not there to just win a fight however I can. I come to fight, period, and that’s what makes fights exciting. I’m fighting till the end, until the ref pulls me off of you, I’m trying tohurt you. I’m not there to win, I came there to put a beat down on someone. How could that possibly be boring?
CS: What is it like to be on a card that features only women, compared to a card that has one or two female bouts?
LT: It’s great. I feel like I am part of an elite club and not a side show.
CS: What’s the best advice you have ever received from a fan?
Haha, I don’t know. Usually when fans give me advice, they are trying to coach me. I know they mean well, but seriously, if my coaches can’t fix me, no one can.
LT: I do like it when fans tell me to relax and have fun, it lets me know that they are there to see a good fight, and win or lose, if I do my best and put on a good show, they love me anyway. Lots of people with losing records are crowd faves, while some people with winning records no one wants to see. They sacrifice the spirit of MMA for their record. So I like being reminded to relax and just have fun.
CS: Lastly, MMA is as much a team sport as it is an individual one. Who would you like to thank?
LT: First and foremost, my team at Gracie Barra Katy; especially my coaches Pat Applegate and Alex Cisne, as well as Aaron Pena. My team mates and sparring partners, Skylar, Little Joe, Paris, Abdul and Michael. Thanks for putting up with me and making me better all the time.
LT: My sponsor, American KnockOut, they are so cool, man.
LT: My manager Paul Stockler, he’s the best in the biz, and all my fans for all the support.
LT: My mom, I love you mom.
LT: And most of all to Joe Murphy, thanks for being with me through thick and thin, I love you so much. I wouldn’t be here without any of you.