Free-falling light heavyweight Houston Alexander announced last week on KOZN-AM (1620 the Zone) in Omaha that he will look to snap a three-fight losing streak by taking on UFC sophomore Andre Gusmao at UFC 98 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 23.
Alexander (8-4) was relatively unknown to the masses until he burst onto the scene with two destructive performances inside the Octagon, taking out top contender Keith Jardine in his debut back at UFC 71: “Liddell vs. Jackson” in May 2007 and then crumbling Alessio Sakara at UFC 75: “Champion vs. Champion” less than four months later.
“The Nebraskan Assassin,” however, quickly returned to Earth — practically crash landing with three straight losses to Thiago Silva at UFC 78, James Irvin Fight Night 13 and Eric Schafer at Fight Night 15.
UFC President Dana White indicated before his most recent loss to Schafer that Alexander needed a win or would risk having to take fights in smaller organizations and win his way back into the Octagon for another opportunity to shine.
It appears that the charismatic father of six will get at least once more chance to prove he belongs with the top mixed martial arts promotion in the world. Let’s hope for his sake he can make the most out of it.
He certainly won’t have a free pass against a very tough Brazilian.
Gusmao (5-1) was originally set to face off against Antonio Mendes at UFC 93 at the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland, on January 17, until an injury forced him off the card and he was replaced by Eric Schafer.
The former “New York Pitbull” was undefeated until he locked horns with the up-and-comer Jon Jones at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” in August, losing via unanimous decision in his debut for the promotion (and enduring some low blows that may or may not have been illegal).
Prior to joining the UFC, Gusmao competed in the International Fight League (IFL). In fact, his first round knockout win (knee) of Mike Ciesnolevicz sealed the victory for the Renzo Gracie-led Pitbulls at the 2007 Team Championship Final in September 2007.
Gusmao could certainly use a win coming into his second fight with the UFC. As history has taught us, going 0-2 for Zuffa does not bode well for a fighter’s career.
Neither does losing four straight.
To check out the latest UFC 98 fight card and rumors click here.
65 Comments »
FYI Houston is training with Jeremy Horn and going up to Brock Lesnar’s camp, working with the guys there and Rashad Evans.
Good luck to him!
WTF His chest looks like its been impaled with a huge spike!
I would love to see Houston win but he is like a flipped over turtle when he is on his back.
i feel for this guy … he needs to win and stay in the ufc so he can feed his kids … i hope he wins but this wont be easy
It mentions that he was training with guys like Lesnar and Evans. I wonder if he is training more extensively on his takedown defense? This would certainly be good for him, but he still needs to work on his ground game to at least properly defend himself and to stand the fight back up. I agree that this is a tough fight.
I was like you ufcaddict until he just kept lying about working on his groundgame over and over. I can’t forgive that. This is a sport at the elite level not charity, you gotta have redeeming qualities as a fighter. Gusmao rd 1 sub.
lol thats from a surgery
he gave his daughter a kidney or something like that
Oooops. I feel really bad now. I forgot about that.
How many chances are they going to give Alexander?
I hope Gusmao tools him and sends him out of the UFC once and for all.
Usually 3 losses in a row puts you out of the UFC but since Houston has a decent following and UFC recently signed him on for cheap, it is good business to hold on to him for one more fight. That is exactly what the UFC is doing.
Win or lose, nobody can deny that he is an exciting fighter to watch. I hope he wins because a 4th loss in a row would force UFC’s hands to cut him.
Yeah, Houston has a lot a fans and he is always very exciting.
I don’t care if he wins or loses. I always want to see him fight.
Gusmao by uprock to flares to windmills and finishes off with headspins.
Andre “The BBOY” Gusmao
Zuffa isnt using him the right way. Houston is an old man, its pretty safe to say that he will never develope a ground game. He is NEVER going to be a contender. HOwever, the man has a lot of fans, and can put on exciting performances against the right type of fighters. Houston should always be matched up against other strikers that also have no ground game.
I wouldnt mind seeing hOUston vs. James Irvin part 2
how does he have fans? this is his farewell match! Irvin is in a different league John!
Kevin-
The same way alot of other one-trick ponies have fans. They have some sort of an unexplainable charisma despite their obvious short-comings.
I.E. Ortiz, Tito.
nothing is unexplainable about their charisma, they look cool which is probably the most important thing and then fights with heart and emotion..
I rest my case…
Kevin: I am not saying I am one of his fans, butt he dude has got fans…Trust me!
I dont think he would make for a bad LHW gatekeeper, for all the TUF fighters.
Bader vs. HOuston would be a good fight for Bader
Tito Ortiz doesn’t look cool; who the hell wants a head that gigantic a girlfriend that loose? Anyone else get annoyed by his commentary on the Affliction card??
Atention Vitor Fans:
Vitor has officially Lost his Damn mInd! He wants to fight Fedor now! He also stated he is going to sit down with de La Hoya and get his boxing career started.
Hahahaha!!!
wow vitor mustve seen andrei doing well with his boxing so he assumes hell kill fedor, but i personally dont wanna see vitor go to boxing, he looks fresh at middleweight and with a few more wins he can become a legit contender
thats what I say! He looks great now and he should capitalize on it instead of running over to boxing
disappointed and a bad move for both AA and Vitor
Im a huge Belfort fan, but he is retarded if he wants to move back up to fight Fedor. MW is where he belongs, and I could see him mowing down just about everyone in that division and would even have a legit chance to even KO Silva. Silva hasn’t fought anyone that was faster than he is. Of course he would have to come back to the UFC for that. Going after Fedor is the wrong move for his career. He will not only be in the wrong weight division, but he will get killed by Fedor.
yea you’re right.. after he wins this he should try to drop to 185 and fight Wanderlei Silva or James Irvin! the man packs too much muscles and his upper body is very stiff
I agree with John…..I will always watch Houston just becuase I like him. Striker vs Striker for Houston works for me. He will never be top 5 but that doesn’t mean he cant be used for exciting fights…..Wandy vs Houston would be sick!
I also agree with that statement, and I make no apologies for wanting to watch Houston fight, however long it lasts. He is clearly not a threat to contend for anything other than K.O. of the night, but damn that’s good enough for me. Forget testing him, just put him in there with someone else that likes to bang.
John,
I would like to see that fight also. I was getting my self a beer and missed the whole fight. I would love to see this fight the second time, for the first time….does that make sense?
yEAH, i GET IT! i DONT KNOW IF HE CAN BEAT iRVIN
YEAH! i GET IT! i DONT KNOW IF HE WOULD BEAT iRVIN. But I know he would make it a much more exciting fight in a rematch!
Houston won’t know what hit him!
I’m rather uninterested in anything Houston Alexander related.
Alexander is just a power puncher, thats realy it. Good luck to him, he has some mouths to feed.
yet interested enough to write a response
Good one nameless…
Im bored…only 20 mins til I get to go home….
I guess so.
Houston, “Can you say good by UFC”???
Is “good” the title of a book by the UFC or something?
lol
Kev: did you see the story on the news today about the couple of just had Octupletts? 8 kids, 1 shot = a litter! hahah
bye, hehe. at work, wasnt concentrating
hahaha no worries. At least you didn’t get all upset like some of the people posting.
Illiterate guy: “didn’t no this was an english class. its a mikst marshal arts discushun!!!!!”
Mistake noticer: “Easy Compadre. I’m your friend and so is knowledge. You just don’t know either of us very well yet.”
hahahaha
“Houston, there is a problem.”
corerction,
“Houston, we have a problem.”
Sorry, I rushed.
Houston needs to be matched up against a striker with no ground game as was said earlier, but that opponent also need to have a weak chin.
Houston has punching power so a weak chin isn’t needed. Just needs a striker lacking in knockout power.
True, but it doesn’t take much power to stun Houston so an opponent with a weak chin would help Houston get the job done more quickly… perhaps before the opponent could mount any significant offense
Agreed. A great example being Keith Jardine.
yes, but Houston just needs some standup defense and technique then it’s all good..
Lets see if Dana’s affirmative action keeps going when Alexander gets his 4th loss in a row.
Zing!!!
That is uncalled for.
but true
Explain why Sokodjou got cut in 2 losses then…
He was costing Dana a lot more money. Plus affirmative action can be selective as well. Why do you think he is kept around? Because he is such a great talent? Because he is so marketable? The guy is Kimbo of the LHW division-he sucks balls. He doesn’t deserve to be in the UFC.
Thats something a racist would say… he is only in the ufc cause he is black? If they didnt want him but they needed to have a certain number of black fighters they would just cut houston and sign a more talented black fighter.. wouldnt they?
looks like another lose for alexander if he gets chin tapped.
i’m from omaha and ran into him at a local golden gloves event my brother was fighting at. my mother wanted to get a picture taken with him. she walked up to him and asked if it was OK. He was incredibly nice, talked with her for a bit and asked her questions and stuff. I took the picture and afterwards he motioned me over and told my mom to take a picture of us.
He was a super cool guy and didn’t act like a big shot or anything. He also was signing autographs for two attractive females in their early 20’s as my mom walked up to him and he didn’t blow her off or anything like i’m sure some people would to continue talking to the young girls instead of somebody’s mother.
I really hope he has a good showing because out of the cage he is a class act.
Houston by round 1 TKO (vicious illegal knees to the head).
if houston wins i wanna see him fight wandy!
Damn, tough fight for Houston again! This will be 4 losses in a row if he loses right? That would send him packing i’d think. He might get a TKO in this fight though, but if it goes to the ground…i don’t think any of the training he’s done can help him with a black belt. He can win on the feet though.