Update: This bout has been rescheduled and will now take place at UFC Fight Night 13 on April 2. For more details click here.
Light heavyweights Houston Alexander (8-2) and James Irvin (13-4) could possibly hook ‘em up at UFC 83 on March 8 in London, England, according to Yahoo!Sports.com.
The report indicates that bout agreements are not signed; however, the 205-pound showdown is in the works.
Alexander — one of the breakout stars for the promotion in 2007 — was temporarily derailed in his last performance, getting pounded out via first round technical knockout at UFC 78: “Validation” in a fight with Thiago Silva. It was the first loss the single father of six suffered inside the Octagon — he has previously made short work of Keith Jardine and Alessio Sakara.
Irvin, on the other hand, can’t seem to enter a fight of late without it ending in controversy. He scored a win at UFC 79: “Nemesis” in December 2007, but that was because his opponent, UFC newcomer Luis Cane, was disqualified for an illegal knee to the face on the ground. Prior to that bout, he twisted his knee in a fight with Silva at UFC 71, forcing the “Sandman” to call it an early night.
Let’s hope this one is drama-free and makes it out of the first round. It would be good to see how both of these guys respond to more than just a few minutes of action.
UFC 83 is expected to feature the middleweight debut of Michael Bisping against The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) alum, Charles McCarthy. Stay tuned for more updates.
40 Comments »
poop
This should be a slug fest. Irvin needs to stay away from the clinch and leg kick the sh*t out of houston and houston needs to get in close to use his power and press agaisnt the cage for some knees/dirty boxing and he would have this fight in the bag.
I would like to see this fight get out of the first round..Irvin with his knee blowing out..or getting an illegal knee to the dome..Houston with your typical jailhouse beatdown style making him like like a scary dude or on Houston Bjj white belt when he is on his back. I’m tuff to really get to see the whole game of a fighter with the 1 round and out.
should be a good slugfest
BS Houston will get a quick KO, Irvin sucks aside from his one good KO flying knee which he will never land again
someone will get knocked out i predict its irvin falling down on his way to the fight
I seriously would think houston would get a better opponent than this dweeb,
Houston Alexander is the shit!!!!…he’s going to knock james irvin out!!!!!!…say goodnight sandman!
All James has to do is get Alex to the ground and the fight is pretty much over. BOOYAA!!!
I could see this ending in a knock out, with irvin waking up to cold water being splashed on his face.
Houston I think is always going to be an exciting fight. Hopefully Irvin doesn’t get hurt in this fight, I would like to see it have an ending.
I’m going with Houston Alexander and I can’t see it getting out of the first round either. KO
c’mon guys this will be an exciting fight. maybe not the most technical. but both guys like to throw. plus i will always put my money on houston, unless he fights serious wrestler, bjj, or a top caliber striker.
)
[quote comment="263217"]Houston Alexander is the shit!!!!…he’s going to knock james irvin out!!!!!!…say goodnight sandman![/quote]
Alexander is just a shitty, one dimensional, cry baby that got schooled in his last bout.
whats james irvin back round again.
This should be a quick fight.Houston by 1st round TKO.Than a rematch with Thiago Silva just to avenge his loss.
James Irvin Post Fight:
“What happened?…”
If Irvin spontaneously explodes during this fight it wouldn’t surprise me.This guy has some of the weirdest luck I’ve ever seen.
im just glad to see HA fighting again.win or lose. the 3 fights iv seen have all been good.HA ko in the 1st
I think we will see Houston improve his ground game. As some MMA fan once wrote, “[Somewhere in Omaha Houston Alexander is rolling jiu jitsu as we speak...]“.
This fight promises to be exciting.
[quote comment="263329"]James Irvin Post Fight:
“What happened?…”[/quote]
lol… they are both over hyped but who ever loses definately is
Sounds like a good fight to me
this should be a exciting slugfest. I dont think either of this fighters will be a serious contender for the title as they are both pretty one dimensional. I think many people overrate houston because of his two quick knockouts. We have not seen any other part of his game that is impressive. All we have seen of him was bum rushing a guy and catching one with an uppercut and one with a knee. I think irvin could easily win this fight if he took it to the ground but i know irvin likes to slug it out so we will see what happens come fight night.
This should be an awesome fight, I will go with houston to win but anything can happen, I hope it gets signed cos I’d rather see these two featured than mcarthy bisping..
dude houston alexander is no fuckin joke. dude thiago silva is a bad mofo. trust me houston will win this plus one more then probablly lose to a good ground guy.
[quote comment="263184"]I would like to see this fight get out of the first round..Irvin with his knee blowing out..or getting an illegal knee to the dome..Houston with your typical jailhouse beatdown style making him like like a scary dude or on Houston Bjj white belt when he is on his back. I’m tuff to really get to see the whole game of a fighter with the 1 round and out.[/quote]
I couldn’t agree more. We need to see more from these guy’s to know what they are all about..
…but then agian’ Quick visious ko’s are always entertaining..
“Illegal knee to the dome”
“Houston’s bjj white belt”…..LOL
.BTW.
It looked to me like Irvin was making it seem like he was more hurt then he was..It kind of looked like he wanted the fight to stop..who know’s???..The knee did connect. But it seemed like Irvin was faking it a little.
just my opinion.
Houston has too much power for for Irvin, KO in the first!
Should be balls to the wall. Perhaps Cro Cop is making a return this card. Has anyone heard anything about his return?
[quote comment="263217"]Houston Alexander is the shit!!!!…he’s going to knock james irvin out!!!!!!…say goodnight sandman![/quote]
This fight could go either way, it all about who lands that fist big punch. should be exciting
[quote comment="263335"]If Irvin spontaneously explodes during this fight it wouldn’t surprise me.This guy has some of the weirdest luck I’ve ever seen.[/quote]
I evan think Irvin has a nc from him and his oppinent ko each other.
Like i said its all about who lands that first punch, Irvin use to be a heavy weight so i think he will be able to deal with HA,s power, beacuse of experience and possible reach i say Irvin tko 2nd rd, but who knows it really could go either way Alexnder fans!
Believe that was a broken ankle not a twisted knee at UFC 71. I was at the fight and heard it snap from about 40 rows back. This should be a great fight though 2 guys with serious KO power
If Houston is not working on his ground game then he better be working on his take down defense.
should be entertaining at the very least. I would like to see how HOusont does if the fight goes to the 3rd round. I am not saying Houston cant fight, deep into a fight….I just want to see it.
UFC 85: May 24…in Las Vegas:
Tiago Silva vs. Rashad Evans
[quote comment="264123"]UFC 85: May 24…in Las Vegas:
Tiago Silva vs. Rashad Evans[/quote]
Old news, I posted that a while ago.
That is a big demotion for Houston, oh well we’ll see how he does this year.
[quote comment="264013"]Believe that was a broken ankle not a twisted knee at UFC 71. I was at the fight and heard it snap from about 40 rows back. This should be a great fight though 2 guys with serious KO power[/quote]
it was a knee
[quote comment="264131"][quote comment="264123"]UFC 85: May 24…in Las Vegas:
Tiago Silva vs. Rashad Evans[/quote]
Old news, I posted that a while ago.
That is a big demotion for Houston, oh well we’ll see how he does this year.[/quote]
It’s a well deserved demotion. His fight against Thiago was a joke. He got handled. This is more the type of fight he should be in. No disrespect to Houston, but he can’t hang with the well rounded LHW’s.
Before the UFC 78 fight with Silva, I was hearing people say that he would be favored in a fight against Chuck. After UFC 79, is there anybody who thinks this guy isn’t tailor made for Chuck. I don’t think they should fight, because Chuck should be fighting a top 5 opponent and Houston should be fighting the Sandman.
[quote comment="263306"][quote comment="263217"]Houston Alexander is the shit!!!!…he’s going to knock james irvin out!!!!!!…say goodnight sandman![/quote]
Alexander is just a shitty, one dimensional, cry baby that got schooled in his last bout.[/quote]
Sounds like you are talking about Tito, he didn’t make up any excuses he gave thiago credit. Win or lose Houston is going to make it an exciting fight.
are you kidding, irvin is amazing. he may not always win, but he always goes balls out.
I can’t believe Irvin is getting yet another chance, he’s just not a UFC caliber at all, him and Sakara both should go to some smaller show to possibly get better
Irvin will definately take it. He has trained with the best, especially with his BJJ (even though his is not UFC caliber). It still adds a little more ability in his arsenal to watch out for. Houston is kind of hard to see what he knows since both of his wins ended so quickly.
Both may not be UFC Light heavy weight contenders for the title, but it’s something both will have to learn fast. If not someone needs to call Jamie Kennedy because they’re going to get X’d.
What it coms down to though is both men have luck and know how to throw, especially when they’re backs are against the fence. I personally believe it isn’t going to be a slugfest, one fighter is going to try and take it to the ground.