Murfreesboro’s Sam Alvey has carved out a lengthy fighting career, competing in some of the premier organizations in the combat sports world and continuing to rack up accolades.

Alvey had a 24-fight career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, becoming one of the most notable middleweights in the promotion before a stint at Karate Combat, where he rules the light heavyweight division and has made history with the promotion.

While most MMA fighters train for years before competing in the sport, Alvey’s start to his MMA career came in a more unconventional way.

“I had no intention of fighting,” said Alvey, originally from Wisconsin. “But some guy asked ‘Hey, you wanna fight?’ and so I went out there and I fought.”

That first fight of his career did not go quite as he’d hoped.

“I would have won had I known the rules. I dropped him hard and I celebrated. I assumed I won; it was not the case,” Alvey said. “Round two happened, and he took me down and beat the brakes off me.”

Alvey would go on to have a shot at redemption against this opponent, scoring an early knockout.

Sam Alvey in his 2014 UFC debut, lands a kick against Tom Watson
Photo courtesy of UFC / Zuffa LLC

He would continue fighting in local promotions to get by, taking as many fights as he could to make money. At one point Alvey fought three times in one night for King of the Cage.

“It was like 250 bucks and some gas every time I fought,” he recalled.

Eventually, he would be pushed to aim higher in his career, moving across the country to train at a bigger MMA gym.

“My wife—fiancée at the time—said you got to go somewhere where you’re not the big fish anymore.”

That led him to Dan Henderson’s Team Quest in California, where he spent about a decade of his career.

After climbing through the ranks of the regional MMA scene, Alvey would earn his shot in the UFC, where he went on to fight 24 times.

Sam Alvey, photo courtesy of UFC / Zuffa LLC

“I really was blessed to be with them for 24 fights,” Alvey said.

His lengthy tenure in the UFC, he says, was due to his willingness to accept all opportunities he was offered, regardless of opponent, time or place.

“I was always the short-notice guy,” he said. “They’d say, ‘Can you fight next week against this guy up two weight classes?’ and I’d say ‘Yeah, okay, I’m fine with that.’”

Alvey reflected on his time with the UFC with immense gratitude.

“I always knew I had another fight, and I knew what I was getting paid. I loved the promotion for it.”

Years later, Alvey is on top of another combat sports organization: Karate Combat. As the light heavyweight champion of Karate Combat, he made history by being the promotion’s first simultaneous two-division champion.

Alvey says he’s enjoyed the match-ups he’s been faced with during his time with Karate Combat.

“They’ve given me some good fights. I’ve had some big fights and some important wins.”

The unique rule set of Karate Combat has made him change his approach to each fight, but it has brought a lot of success.

“The pit changes the way I fight, too. I’ve always been a counter-striker. I always backed my back foot up on the cage,” said Alvey. “If my back foot is on the wall, I will fall over. I can’t do it like that anymore.”

As a viewer, Alvey tends to enjoy watching Karate Combat more than traditional MMA promotions as well.

“I really do like watching Karate Combat more than the UFC. The fights are structured a little bit faster,” Alvey noted.

He hinted that Karate Combat was looking to match him up with another notorious former UFC fighter, Uriah Hall, in his next defense of his light heavyweight belt.

“Hall has one fight lined up against the Australian bloke,” Alvey said. “If he wins this fight, he’ll likely be my next light heavyweight title defense.”

Sam with local karate instructor Bill Taylor, owner of Bill Taylor’s Bushido School of Karate and Champion’s Corner Boxing Gym

These days, Alvey spends much of his time training at local MMA and karate gyms to sharpen his skills in preparation for upcoming fights.

“Guardian [MMA] is wonderful,” he said. “They’ve really been a driving force in what is becoming my career.”

Alvey also teaches a weekly MMA class on Tuesday mornings at Guardian. In this class, he teaches people how to use the cage to prevent getting taken down in a fight.

“I knew how to use that cage better than almost everyone, and that is what the class is [about].”

Sam Alvey offers instruction and encouragement to students at Bill Taylor’s Bushido School

Along with training at Guardian MMA, Alvey spends his time learning at Bill Taylor’s Bushido School of Karate.

“I train at Bill Taylor’s. Their karate side is the bigger side, but their boxing has a lot of real athletes in it.”

Follow Sam Alvey on Facebook and Instagram, where he frequently posts life and career updates.