Time away has been a blessing and a curse for Alvarez

"One thing I learned about fighting very early on is there're crazy highs and lows," said Alvarez. "I always say this to everyone: this is always been a marathon for me, not a sprint. This is a quest to become more than just the best fighter in the world. It's a quest to be a good human being and to teach my kids and myself more about life and more about myself. This is a journey for me. This has been one of the lows, but I've found that they're usually followed by one of the crazy highs."

Loretta Hunt has covered mixed martial arts since 2001. She is the co-author of Becoming The Natural: My Life In and Out of the Cage, by six-time UFC champion Randy Couture, and Let's Get It On: The Making of MMA and Its Ultimate Referee, by "Big" John McCarthy.