"When I heard it was going to be back home for the title fight, I was like, 'No way!' This is great, couldn't be better," LaRosa said.
"I trained hard for Laura D'Auguste, but since she got injured, I will take on this challenge as it comes. . . . My family will be there. Mom has gotten a lot better about my fights. Mom will have her hands over her eyes and my dad will be screaming his head off."
LaRosa will test her skills against Kelly Kobold-Gavin (16-0-1), nicknamed "Blood Red." At 150 pounds, she is known as a spirited, heavy-handed crowd-pleaser.
"I know her to be a brawler," LaRosa said.
LaRosa, who was a first-place qualifier for the U.S. grappling world team at 138.75 pounds, has stopped instructing combative arts to become a student of MMA full time.
The championship belt is on the table. Kobold-Gavin will have a trying time, said Amanda Buckner, one of LaRosa's previous opponents.
"Her skill level is evenly matched by her heart," she said of LaRosa. "She can't be broken down."
Alvarez, 23, is a Philly boy, loud and proud. He grew up in Kensington.
The 170-pound welterweight is on the main fight card against Matt Lee tonight.
"Rocky has been a cliché wherever I go, but it's cool because people respect Philly as a place that has produced good fighters," Alvarez said.
The former North Catholic High School wrestler and father of 2-year-old Eddie Jr. resides in Bridesburg.
His home team is Fight Factory, located in Fishtown, one of Philadelphia's most sought-after training areas for MMA fighters. It's where a former concrete pourer by day and troublemaker by night got introduced to the world of mixed martial arts in a basement.
Alvarez sought real training from Fight Factory founder Steve Haigh.
"I love competing," he said. "I would have fought in a cardboard box, but sanctioned MMA changed all that."
