Houston Alexander ~ Drill, Baby, Drill
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight Houston 'the Assassin' Alexander, looking to rebound from three consecutive losses, recently took time to sit down with us at MMASpot.net and talked about his future in MMA, how he plans to improve his game, and why he considers himself blessed to be doing something he loves. Also see his thoughts on steroids, greasing, and self-sacrifice.
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MD: How are you doing, Houston?
HA: Doing fine. I'm just up here doing my radio show in about a half an hour.
MD: Alright, we'll try to make this quick for you. How did you get started in MMA?
HA: When I got started, it was on a dare. There was a weekly event that was in town here (Omaha), and my friend told me they were having them. I had kind of wrestled and boxed around, and I was an athletic guy coming out of high school. I signed up for one of the fights, and ended up winning it and the rest is history. I started training in Iowa, and started fighting every single week almost. MMA was relatively new maybe eight or nine years ago, but I just liked being in the action. I've always fought ever since I was a kid, so fighting for me was nothing.
MD: You have your next fight scheduled to take place on May 23rd at UFC 98 against Andre Gusmao. What are your thoughts on Gusmao, and how do you see that fight playing out?
HA: From the film we've seen, and from talking to my coaches, he's probably one of the most athletic guys that I'm going to be facing. He's really good on his feet. He likes to put people on the ground quick, so he's probably one of the better guys I'll be facing athletically.
MD: So you definitely want to keep that fight standing, and you'll be working on your takedown defense then?
HA: You know, right now we're preparing for either or. The plan was for me to get better, and I've gotten probably ten times better. It doesn't matter where it goes, as a professional MMA fighter you're supposed to be ready for anything, whether it goes to the ground or standing up.
MD: Great, I'm looking forward to seeing that.
HA: Oh yeah.
MD: Another thing about this fight is that it's taking place in Las Vegas. It'll be your first fight there since knocking out Keith Jardine at UFC 71. How do you feel about fighting in Vegas again?
HA: You know actually fighting out of town period is a good thing, because there were a lot of distractions in my last fight because I was in my hometown. I like it when I leave, because I think I'm more focused when I'm out of town.
MD: I'm actually glad you brought that up, because that was going to be my next question. Being from Omaha I was really excited to see you on the card, and the crowd went insane when you were introduced.
HA: Yeah, it was a great reception and I hated the way it turned out, but we're working on making myself a better fighter.
MD: Do you think being in Omaha in front of your friends and family affected your performance a little bit?
HA: No, I don't think so. I got injured a few times before the fight, and I'm not the type of guy that will whine about it, so I never worried about it before and I'm not worried about it afterwards. I got myself in a bad position. I'm not supposed to be in a bad position, the end. There was nothing mental about it with my family or friends. It was just a bad position.
Read the rest of the interview @ MMAspot.net
double thread?
looks to be
i did check, but i guess i need to work on my thread searching game