basblue
12-10-2011, 14:24
Houston “The Assassin” Alexander is a veteran of the sport and has fought in many different promotions for Mixed Martial Arts.
Many remember his wins over Keith Jardine at UFC 71 and Alessio Sakara at UFC 75. His brutal strikes and Muay Thai knees have paved way for many of his memorable victories, and at the age of 39, he doesn’t show signs of stopping.*
Houston is riding on a three-fight winning streak and now will be headlining the inaugural event titled MMA Fight Pit: Genesis. The fight will be held in Albuquerque, NM on August 13th, 2011. His opponent: Former UFC fighter Razak “Razor” Al-Hassan, who sports an 11-3 record.
Al-Hassan is known for his ground game and submission skills and will prove to be a challenging test for "The Assassin". The card also includes other recognizable fighters such as Jens Pulver, Junie Browning and Jamie Yager.*
Gregory Chase interviewed Houston Alexander about his upcoming bout against Razak Al-Hassan:
GC: Hello Houston, let me start by saying thank you for your time, and that I have been a big fan of yours and your career and still am to this day.**
HA: Well, I appreciate it man!*
GC: I especially liked that Sports Science episode with you about the adrenaline, and your wins over Pendergarst, Sokoudjou, and of course Jardine. They were very exciting to watch. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you some questions about your upcoming fight!*
HA: I appreciate it a lot man, thanks a lot! Shoot away, brother!*
GC: You’re fighting Razak Al-Hassan on August 13th at MMA Fight Pit. How do you think the fight will go down?*
HA: Actually, I know how it’s gonna go down, with me raising my fist brother. Because you know man, I’m coming right after him. No sitting around, no playing around. It’s just gonna be me and him, it’s gonna be “kill or be killed” attitude.*
GC: In preparing for Al-Hassan, have you done anything different during your training camp to prepare for this specific fight?*
HA: Well you know, I train everyday, you know, so as far as any type of training camp or working on anything specifically, I work all the things, every single day. So it doesn’t matter whether I’m in a camp or not, because I train everyday.
And you know, as far as my ground game goes, I’m a lot more comfortable on the ground…with the new camp here at Premiere Combat Center. Ryan Jensen, Jake Ellenberger, Jason Brilz, you got a lot of us there at the Center, and so at any given day I can go all up against anybody who are top 100 in the world.
So I just know I’m a lot more comfortable on the ground, I know my standup has gotten a lot better with my boxing, and I have the ring presence to match it.*
GC: Al-Hassan has a strong submission game, and you have excellent stand up. How do you think your styles match up for this fight and what will be the deciding factor?*
HA: I think whoever gets to the punch first. You know, the guy is very long, has a lot of reach, but I don’t know how he’s gonna handle my inside game. I know he’s probably looking to take me down, thinking I’m gonna turtle up, but he has another thing coming, you know, if he thinks I’m gonna belly down and not fight.*
GC: So you think he’s going to try to strike with you initially?*
HA: No one really wants to stand up in front of me brother, I think they would be crazy to do so. But he’s gonna want to take me down like, no one knows what the gameplan is (laughs) you know, we’re going to expect that. It would be great if he could stand up with me, because I would love to stand up, but I’m pretty sure his gameplan is to take me to the ground.*
GC: Will some of that "Houston Alexander Adrenaline" play a factor? (Laughs)*
HA: (Laughs) Oh man, it's gonna definitely play a factor, but you gotta learn to control that brother!
GC: This is the inaugural event for MMA Fight Pit, titled Genesis. How do you feel about headlining the first event, and what made you sign on to their promotion?*
HA: I’m very proud I’m headlining their event, and also, Monte Cox is one of the best fight managers in the world. We’re always looking for a great opponent, and when they brought the opponent up, and it was Razak, we decided to roll with it.*
GC: You’re coming off a win over Brian Albin, and less than two months later you’re headlining a fight again. You have a three-fight winning streak, do you feel like this momentum will help you in your upcoming fight?*
HA: Of course, it always helps to be in that back-to-back presence in the ring, because you still have that “want to go” attitude once you get in that ring, you know, it’s like you never left. You have the knowledge of being in the ring before, so I already have it fresh in my mind about being in the last fight. So it helps me in that aspect.*
GC: Besides your fight, Jens Pulver, Junie Browning, and Jamie Yager are on the card as well. Is there a particular bout that you think will be a great fight or that you are looking forward to the most?*
HA: You know what brother, I can’t say that because I’m concentrating too much on my guy, I’m sure I’ll be able to watch the fights after, but again I’m really concentrating on mine.*
GC: Now It’s unfortunate that we can’t all watch you on UFC cards, but if you were to have another shot and were back in the UFC, which opponent would you like to fight at Light Heavyweight or Heavyweight, and why?*
HA: Well it would be Light Heavyweight, and it’s gotta be the champ. You gotta go after the guy with the belt, I would love to go after the guy with the belt, brother!*
GC: And how do you think you would do, standup wise, against Jon Jones?*
HA: I think it would be great standup, you know, because I would know how to stay on the outside of his reach and I would know how to stay on the inside of his reach also. So I’m good inside or out.*
GC: So with Jon Jones vs. Rampage Jackson coming up, which one would you rather fight for the title?*
HA: Like I said man, whoever has the belt, That’s who I’m going with.*
GC: One of the things that many fans admire is your attitude toward family. How big of a role does family play in your motivation for your fights?*
HA: 100% Motivation. One reason why I started fighting was because of my family, and with that, you gotta pay the bills, but I enjoy beating people up in the first place, you know, so it plays hand in hand. Beating up, and getting money!*
GC: Alright Houston Alexander, thank you so much for your time and answering some questions, and I look forward to watching you on August 13th, and I wish you much success.*
HA: Alright, I appreciate it man. Shoutout to everybody, all the fans, shoutout*to all my sponsors! Please go check out HoustonAlexander.com! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook!*
GC: Thanks again, Houston!*
HA: Ok brother!*
Many remember his wins over Keith Jardine at UFC 71 and Alessio Sakara at UFC 75. His brutal strikes and Muay Thai knees have paved way for many of his memorable victories, and at the age of 39, he doesn’t show signs of stopping.*
Houston is riding on a three-fight winning streak and now will be headlining the inaugural event titled MMA Fight Pit: Genesis. The fight will be held in Albuquerque, NM on August 13th, 2011. His opponent: Former UFC fighter Razak “Razor” Al-Hassan, who sports an 11-3 record.
Al-Hassan is known for his ground game and submission skills and will prove to be a challenging test for "The Assassin". The card also includes other recognizable fighters such as Jens Pulver, Junie Browning and Jamie Yager.*
Gregory Chase interviewed Houston Alexander about his upcoming bout against Razak Al-Hassan:
GC: Hello Houston, let me start by saying thank you for your time, and that I have been a big fan of yours and your career and still am to this day.**
HA: Well, I appreciate it man!*
GC: I especially liked that Sports Science episode with you about the adrenaline, and your wins over Pendergarst, Sokoudjou, and of course Jardine. They were very exciting to watch. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you some questions about your upcoming fight!*
HA: I appreciate it a lot man, thanks a lot! Shoot away, brother!*
GC: You’re fighting Razak Al-Hassan on August 13th at MMA Fight Pit. How do you think the fight will go down?*
HA: Actually, I know how it’s gonna go down, with me raising my fist brother. Because you know man, I’m coming right after him. No sitting around, no playing around. It’s just gonna be me and him, it’s gonna be “kill or be killed” attitude.*
GC: In preparing for Al-Hassan, have you done anything different during your training camp to prepare for this specific fight?*
HA: Well you know, I train everyday, you know, so as far as any type of training camp or working on anything specifically, I work all the things, every single day. So it doesn’t matter whether I’m in a camp or not, because I train everyday.
And you know, as far as my ground game goes, I’m a lot more comfortable on the ground…with the new camp here at Premiere Combat Center. Ryan Jensen, Jake Ellenberger, Jason Brilz, you got a lot of us there at the Center, and so at any given day I can go all up against anybody who are top 100 in the world.
So I just know I’m a lot more comfortable on the ground, I know my standup has gotten a lot better with my boxing, and I have the ring presence to match it.*
GC: Al-Hassan has a strong submission game, and you have excellent stand up. How do you think your styles match up for this fight and what will be the deciding factor?*
HA: I think whoever gets to the punch first. You know, the guy is very long, has a lot of reach, but I don’t know how he’s gonna handle my inside game. I know he’s probably looking to take me down, thinking I’m gonna turtle up, but he has another thing coming, you know, if he thinks I’m gonna belly down and not fight.*
GC: So you think he’s going to try to strike with you initially?*
HA: No one really wants to stand up in front of me brother, I think they would be crazy to do so. But he’s gonna want to take me down like, no one knows what the gameplan is (laughs) you know, we’re going to expect that. It would be great if he could stand up with me, because I would love to stand up, but I’m pretty sure his gameplan is to take me to the ground.*
GC: Will some of that "Houston Alexander Adrenaline" play a factor? (Laughs)*
HA: (Laughs) Oh man, it's gonna definitely play a factor, but you gotta learn to control that brother!
GC: This is the inaugural event for MMA Fight Pit, titled Genesis. How do you feel about headlining the first event, and what made you sign on to their promotion?*
HA: I’m very proud I’m headlining their event, and also, Monte Cox is one of the best fight managers in the world. We’re always looking for a great opponent, and when they brought the opponent up, and it was Razak, we decided to roll with it.*
GC: You’re coming off a win over Brian Albin, and less than two months later you’re headlining a fight again. You have a three-fight winning streak, do you feel like this momentum will help you in your upcoming fight?*
HA: Of course, it always helps to be in that back-to-back presence in the ring, because you still have that “want to go” attitude once you get in that ring, you know, it’s like you never left. You have the knowledge of being in the ring before, so I already have it fresh in my mind about being in the last fight. So it helps me in that aspect.*
GC: Besides your fight, Jens Pulver, Junie Browning, and Jamie Yager are on the card as well. Is there a particular bout that you think will be a great fight or that you are looking forward to the most?*
HA: You know what brother, I can’t say that because I’m concentrating too much on my guy, I’m sure I’ll be able to watch the fights after, but again I’m really concentrating on mine.*
GC: Now It’s unfortunate that we can’t all watch you on UFC cards, but if you were to have another shot and were back in the UFC, which opponent would you like to fight at Light Heavyweight or Heavyweight, and why?*
HA: Well it would be Light Heavyweight, and it’s gotta be the champ. You gotta go after the guy with the belt, I would love to go after the guy with the belt, brother!*
GC: And how do you think you would do, standup wise, against Jon Jones?*
HA: I think it would be great standup, you know, because I would know how to stay on the outside of his reach and I would know how to stay on the inside of his reach also. So I’m good inside or out.*
GC: So with Jon Jones vs. Rampage Jackson coming up, which one would you rather fight for the title?*
HA: Like I said man, whoever has the belt, That’s who I’m going with.*
GC: One of the things that many fans admire is your attitude toward family. How big of a role does family play in your motivation for your fights?*
HA: 100% Motivation. One reason why I started fighting was because of my family, and with that, you gotta pay the bills, but I enjoy beating people up in the first place, you know, so it plays hand in hand. Beating up, and getting money!*
GC: Alright Houston Alexander, thank you so much for your time and answering some questions, and I look forward to watching you on August 13th, and I wish you much success.*
HA: Alright, I appreciate it man. Shoutout to everybody, all the fans, shoutout*to all my sponsors! Please go check out HoustonAlexander.com! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook!*
GC: Thanks again, Houston!*
HA: Ok brother!*