Albert Alvarez was hesitant to begin a mixed-martial-arts career, given the fame of his brother who is seven years older.
They share many traits and aspects of life, including a tough-as-nails mother who helped the boys grow closer by not letting older Eddie pick on younger Albert. They were also both skilled high school wrestlers in the Philadelphia area.
But Albert was concerned that his brother Eddie, who is 21-2 in MMA, would cast too long of a shadow for Albert to get a fair shake in the sport.
So whom did Albert turn to for advice? Eddie, of course.
"I was worried about what other people were thinking, like, 'What if he doesn't live up to his brother?'" Alvarez told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "So me and my brother sat down and talked. I told him I wanted to do it, and he said he didn't have a problem with it.
"He was on board; he just told me not worry about what other people think."
As he has for his brother's entire life, Eddie Alvarez will be in Albert's corner for his second fight on Friday when he appears in his second Locked in the Cage show in his hometown of Philadelphia.
Alvarez, the 20-year-old younger brother, won his amateur debut via decision at a Locked in the Cage opportunity his brother helped him to get. This time, he hopes to make things more decisive and move on to a professional career.
Meanwhile, he trains with his brother while working an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. machine-operating job for Kraft Foods, making his schedule good for training in the afternoon and evening but bad for sleep.
He's just trying to keep winning, make his own name and become a pro fighter.
"I wanna go pro as soon as possible, and whenever I'm ready and the circumstances are right, it's gonna happen," Alvarez said. "I feel like I'm ready now, and I'm trying to show it."
Toughness at home
Albert is the youngest of four Alvarez children, three boys and a girl. Their father owned his own business doing work on homes, and their mother was a surgical tech at Temple University.
They come from big, strong stock, as evidenced by their mother's insistence that the brothers not pick on one another.
"She's very strong," Alvarez said. "She'll shove you and slap you pretty hard. My mother and father both, they're very strong. I never feel overpowered by anybody in the ring or have trouble in avoiding being tossed. I feel like I'm from my parents and their strong gene pool."
That gene pool first produced Eddie, who was a star high school wrestler while younger Albert was often in the crowd watching him. Alvarez later would become a wrestler himself, starting at age 10 and continuing through his own strong high school career.
By his senior year, Alvarez was tiring of cutting weight but went through another successful season at 155 pounds, competing in the 150-pound division.
Alvarez was best when he was on his feet, to the point he would sometimes let opponents back up after taking them down so he could get back to a standing position. Alvarez didn't have a desire to go to college after high school, so he went to work immediately.
Soon, Alvarez settled into a job with Kraft that left him plenty of free time in the afternoon and evening before work to train. He always held an interest in MMA, as well.
It was just a matter of getting his confidence strong enough and consulting with his brother.
"He had been doing it for about five years already," Alvarez said. "How could I find a better person to talk to about it than him?"
His own career
Alvarez wasn't long out of high school when he finally had a sit-down talk with his brother and they decided they should start training together.
At about 18, Alvarez wasn't just training with his brother. He was training with one of the world's best in his weight class, and they started a tradition of sparring on Saturdays that continues today.
Eventually, Alvarez even got his brother's help to get his first fight.
"I had been training for about eight months, really hard," he said. "(Eddie) knows the promoter of Locked in the Cage, and he asked him what he thought about me fighting there. He was open to it, and everything went from there."
Alvarez made his amateur debut on Dec. 3, and it went well quickly. Almost too well.
"I was nervous, a little jittery, but I felt relaxed when I was in the ring," he said. "I gave him a real good shot coming right out, and I got a little too happy I think. I still feel like I should've finished him the first round, but I managed to win in a decision."
Eddie Alvarez was in his brother's corner, just as he will be on Friday. He'll be supporting the less-experienced, youngest member of his fighting family who is mostly training or working, splitting time between his third-shift job and his dedication to MMA.
"I just try to fight the best I can, not necessarily be like anybody else," Alvarez said. "If that's what it looks like, it's not intended at all. I'm just trying to do what I learned."
Award-winning newspaper reporter Kyle Nagel is the lead features writer for MMAjunkie.com. His weekly "Fight Path" column focuses on the circumstances that led fighters to a profession in MMA. Know a fighter with an interesting story? Email us at news [at] mmajunkie.com.
Check out more UFC News at MMAjunkie.com. This story originally appeared on MMAjunkie.com and is syndicated on Yahoo! Sports as part of a content-partnership deal between the two sites.