After 10 years in MMA and a run in the UFC that included victories over Keith Jardine and Alessio Sakara, Houston Alexander is just getting started.
“I’m healthy,” Houston Alexander told BleacherReport.com. “I’ve been healthy for a long time so I can go another five, six, seven years. I can do the same thing Randy Couture did minus all the injuries. I’ve never had any major injuries, so as long as I stay in good shape and fight on a high level I can go as long as I want. No bump on Randy Couture, but I want to be the next Houston Alexander.”
What will the Couture-like comeback of Houston Alexander include? Well if the comeback is to happen at all, Alexander must be successful in his outing at Instinct MMA’s inaugural event this Saturday against Steve Bossé.
Bossé has been carving a bloody path throughout the local Canadian MMA scene and has amassed an impressive 8-1 record, with seven of those wins coming in the first round! He was also a feared enforcer in the North American Hockey League.
Alexander couldn’t care less. “I really don’t care where he comes from or what his background is,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, when the cage is closed, we’re on equal terms. So it doesn’t matter who has done what previously.”
Still, Alexander did have some praise for his opponent. “He’s a very tough guy. His Muay Thai is great. He’s just going to be a worthy opponent.”
Fortunately for Alexander, he’s had a star-studded training camp for this upcoming fight, which includes the likes of Jake Ellenberger, the man who recently bested former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields.
“I just sparred with Jake the other day,” said Alexander. “He’s a great wrestler, quick guy, different weight class but he’s still a great partner to spar with.”
“Ryan Jensen is one of my primary coaches. We got a great cast of characters out there. Joe Ellenberger is out there, you got Ryan Jensen, you got Jason Brilz. I think we got a great team of people that you go up against on a regular basis.”
With such training partners, it’s no doubt that Alexander is enjoying a four-fight winning streak (which would be five if not for an accidental eye poke) going into the fight with Bossé.
Under such circumstances, it’d be normal for a fighter to get nervous due to aspirations of returning to the UFC, but Alexander isn’t exactly normal when it comes to such things; he prefers to let the fans worry for him.
“I’m actually on a great streak so it doesn’t matter whether it’s UFC or whoever. I’ve been facing quality opponents, I’ve been beating quality opponents that have been in the UFC or any type of thing—Strikeforce. The fans are gonna see that I’m winning and then the fans are gonna be asking ‘How come he’s not fighting on this type of scale when he’s winning all these fights?’ I’m not worried too much about it; the fans will speak for themselves.”
So should we expect to see Houston Alexander coming to an Octagon near you anytime soon? Perhaps, but that Octagon may not be near you…unless you’re in Japan.
“For me, I would love to go where martial arts started and I believe Japan is one of those places,” he said. “China is one of those places and to go to Brazil—Brazil is the land of Jiu-Jitsu. Even Russia, you got great fighters out there so wherever a lot of these martial arts have gotten started I wouldn’t mind going to and actually being a part of history.”
Whether or not he knows it, Alexander is a part of history because he was present in MMA when the sport was still a sordid one and is still fighting as it enters the main stream.
“I started training in 2001,” Alexander remembered. “Right after my first fight I started training, shortly after that. It’s been about 11 years. The first fight I had—it was unsanctioned—but it was a sign-up deal. So I signed up with a fight and it was one of those things were they having a weekly MMA fight every week. So I signed up for a fight and got in and I ended up winning because I had a background in boxing and wrestling and I was hooked ever since.”
Since that day, the sport has grown leaps and bounds and is going from hole-in-the-wall bars and parking lots to Facebook and FOX and Alexander couldn’t be happier.
“It makes me feel proud to be a part of it. It gives you more incentive to train. It gives you more incentive to get your ass in the gym and put your butt on the line. I’m with the fact that we’re getting the exposure we deserve.”
However, as always, things could be better. As many fighters note, the fans are awfully negative and have a tendency to exaggerate, especially when “lay and pray” is concerned.
Alexander claimed that the fans were “just blowing it out of proportion.” He continued on and said, “You just need to get your ass up. If you can’t get your ass up then something’s wrong. Defend the takedown or do something to make it more exciting. You should want to get up, you shouldn’t want to lay on the ground. That’s what I think about that.”
Concerning the future of MMA criticism as a whole, he had more to say.
“I’m hoping that the fans and all the negative people who are negative towards MMA are getting educated more on the sport,” he said.
“It’s actually a sport that requires a lot of energy and a lot of know-how and a lot of go-getting. I’m hoping that the fans are supportive and most importantly I hope that the fighters getting what they’re worth in payment. I also hope the sponsors, such as Nike and these bigger companies, recognize MMA as one of the sports of the future.”
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