Houston Alexander will return to BKFC this May 13 against Jason Fish.
Beginning his professional career in 2001, Houston Alexander is still going strong two decades on. He made his debut in the UFC with a first-minute knockout of Keith Jardine in May 2007. He was let go by the promotion after dropping six of his final seven bouts with the organization. Alexander has remained out of competition in mixed martial arts since his last outing against Rakim Cleveland in December 2017.
Now, 15 years separated from joining the UFC ‘The Assassin’ will return to competition for his second showing in BKFC. Ahead of his bout with Jason Fish at BKFC Fight Night, Houston Alexander spoke to MMA Junkie about fighting at 50 years old.
“At 50 years old, I feel pretty good. You know, you take care of your body and I think I’m just as competitive as I was when I first started. So, I’m feeling pretty good. I’m excited about the bareknuckle deal.”
Alexander talked about participating in other activities besides MMA that have kept him sharp.
“I’ve been doing a lot of things over the years besides fighting. I was working on the foundation, my Houston Alexander foundation, I’ve been doing speaking engagements, I’ve been doing seminars – I’ve been doing a little bit of everything, man. … Throughout these couple of years, I was just doing other things other than MMA. In between all that, I was training. I was sparring with some of the young guns that are coming up, and I’ve always kept my knives sharp.”
Houston Alexander on preparing for bare-knuckle fights
While Houston Alexander has been consistent with training in inactivity, competing without gloves is a whole different beast than MMA. Alexander announced himself in bare-knuckle fighting with the first-minute knockout of Wes Combs. Although he won the contest in just 34 seconds, Alexander faced criticism for a punch he landed after Combs hit the canvas.
There were calls to disqualify Alexander due to the follow-up strike, he was allowed to walk away with his first win after over 45 months out of competition.
“Fortunate for me, I’ve got all these calluses, rough skin, and all these broken bones. My hands are already broken, but they’re broken in. … Even during pad rounds, we’ve been doing pad rounds with no gloves. So, my hands are equipped for this particular situation. Bareknuckle is something I’ve always done, and like coach says, it’s right up my alley.”
Alexander wants to keep fighting until his body is able to take no more. As someone who trains and spars regularly in practice, he believes he might as well get paid for it.
“If I’m winning at this level, with people in my age group, why not?”
“Why not continue to fight, and why not continue to do what I enjoy?”
You can catch Houston Alexander compete bare-knuckle for the second time in his career against Jason Fish at BKFC Fight Night: Omaha.
