Comments on: It’s too early to give up on Houston Alexander

By: James

James — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:43:53 +0000

I think Houston needs a another fight against a striker like Irvin. He went down in with one punch in that fight and if his chin is suspect than all the bjj in the world won’t help him become a true champion. Most of his other fights he really isnt getting hit, he is doing the hitting. If he cant take a strike, than he’s not worth the ufc roster and he can go fight Kimbo in a prison yard setup on elite xc. But if he can get hit seeing him go 3 rounds with a great striker would be awesome and draw loads of revenue. Dana and the crew have put him against a couple tough bjj guys and its obvious he’s no where near their level. But the bottom line is making money and Houston Alexander can definitely do that for the ufc. Maybe a warmup vs a marginal striker/wrestler to get off the losing streak and then a rematch with Jardine to show it wasn’t a fluke the first time. But I still would love to see that prison yard match! With armed guards and dogs!

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: ctownhood

ctownhood — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:10:03 +0000

It’s hard not like to like Houston..he’s very charismatic, he has a great story, stand up guy. That being said..there are 2 things I never need to see in sports again:

1. Johnny Damon throw a baseball (just painful……)
2. Houston Alexander in the Octagon.

At his age, he isn’t going to develop enough ground skills to compete in the near future. His fights are always exciting, just not for him I suppose…

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Mike Rome

Mike Rome — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 09:20:10 +0000

It’s more that some of his comments are discouraging. For example, he said just a couple of weeks ago that he doesn’t train with any high level BJJ guys because he doesn’t think training with good guys makes any different. He then said he learned the moves and practices them so it’s the same either way. I knew as soon as he said this he was in deep shit in this fight.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:34:28 +0000

If the UFC can keep Luke Cummo,Jorge Gurgel,Jonathon Goulet,Chris Lytle,Josh Burkman,and Pete Sell on their roster i think they can keep Houston Alexander around.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: cornerman

cornerman — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:40:59 +0000

Houston has a ton of potential, I hope he does train BJJ and wrestling, he needs it exclusively for a year or two.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: HexRei

HexRei — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:42:10 +0000

Truth: Cheap shot man, some of us do train but guess what? we aren’t pro fighters like houston so its just not a valid comparison. By your logic no one can ever criticize any pro about ANYTHING unless they are a better pro, and that’s dumb. I don’t see anyone here saying they could beat Houston.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Truth

Truth — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:45:08 +0000

Truth: He trained his ass off on the ground…drilling arm triangles over and over and over again…takedown defense and scrambling against huge midwest wrestlers…but it was a fight…just because you drill something doesn’t mean you can execute it…maybe his adrenaline took over and he wasn’t as focused as he could be…maybe he gassed out a little…maybe he just didn’t preform on the ground…it’s not like Shafer is that well rounded…he is a one dimensional jitz guy…his striking blows, but it works just enough to get a win this time…you guys know where Houston trains…come on up and roll around with him…especially all you guys with all this jitz and fighting experience on here (laughs to self…you’d get worked)…and let’s not discredit Schafer…he is a jitz stud and did what he should do when a fight gets into his element…

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Imbecile

Imbecile — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:43:13 +0000

Not only did he start with two illegal knees, did anyone else catch when Alexander tried to fish-hook Schafer when he was on top of Schafer on the ground early on? Pathetic!

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: King Solomon

King Solomon — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:50:24 +0000

Alexander is part of the UFC hype machine. This fighter isnt worth o shit. He’s ground game is Zero. He’s cardo sucks. He’s whole lame career is build off the Keith Jardine KO. He started MMa too late in my opinion.

Remember the truth Hurts. Ask B. Vera.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Dayzah

Dayzah — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:34:11 +0000

He sucks on the ground , its that simple .. As soon as I saw this matchup I picked Eric in every mma fantasy I could , its just a matter of time with Houston and a grappler ..

I agree with the vash majority here who arent distracted by smoke and mirriors … This guy is a one trick pony at best , with a glass jaw , and no I dont fight or shadow with him but ive seen him get completely owned his last 3 fights …

I figured a article like this would come from mmajunkie, they are the biggest Alexander nut huggers , guess cause they do/did sponsor him and he would sometime post ..

Quit posting and train some fin jits.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Gabber

Gabber — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:27:42 +0000

Not to mention the fact that he started the tussle with two illegal knees and didn’t get called for it. I would have to agree with Handover.

Tank with 5% body fat.

Mind you, he looked pretty gassed at the end of the round about 30 seconds before the choke.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: ck

ck — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:15:12 +0000

ok it’s one thing to not be good at bjj.. but if you absolutely suck at protecting yourself when taken down, you have no career in mma. Many top strikers in the game can at least figure out how to avoid alot of damages while on the bottom and even try some decent escapes. What did Houston do to try to escape except trying to buck him off? And that weak bucking attempt takes how long to learn??

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Handover Fist

Handover Fist — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:28:26 +0000

I think Houston is a better conditioned Tank Abbott.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:35:37 +0000

I’m a big fan of Sam Caplan but this article is pure garbage. I would think that one of the most basic MMA skills is pulling guard when you’re on the bottom. Houston didn’t even TRY.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: mike

mike — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:25:45 +0000

Ok, Sam, I usually agree with you, but for once I don’t agree.

Alexander’s ground game was some of the most miserable ground game I have ever seen. I’ve never seen someone get side control so quickly and fluidly than during this fight. Houston was a freakin beast standing up. Once it was taken to the ground it was like watching an amateur fighter get his ass handed to him by a real ground game master. Whether Alexander has been learning BJJ or really working on his ground game, he has no future in this sport until he can learn it a hell of a lot better. He was miserable.

I was so impressed by his standup, but MMA is not a one demensional sport. That is why Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes are being beaten by the new breed of MMA fighters. You have to be well rounded to continue fighting in todays MMA world. Alexander needs to become a more rounded fighter, or find a new way to support his six kids.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: platypus

platypus — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:23:09 +0000

good article

theres always a need for the token black fighter with no ground game =)

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Jim Smith for President

Jim Smith for President — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:00:37 +0000

Jim Smith, where do I find your blog, you have more suppoters here than Caplan.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Squall

Squall — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:56:21 +0000

Another Lol@you post, Houston is done but i do feel for him being a single parent of 6.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Gabber

Gabber — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:44:38 +0000

Good article.

Simple fact of the matter is you’re a blatant Alexander mark.

Second simple fact: whatever ground skills he has are not nearly enough to be competitive in the UFC. They’ve cut people for less. Look at Lutter, decent fighter, had Silva mounted and in the worst position of anyone yet (albeit not making weight), lost to Franklin, cut from UFC.

I’m a big Houston fan but dude, 3 losses, you’re out. You can’t hang with the big dogs and I’d rather see a battle of top competitors like Guida vs Danzig then watch you get side mounted, full mounted, not sweep, not buck and get choked with a very, very slow arm triangle.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0

By: Kelvin

Kelvin — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:12:43 +0000

Well done Sam.

Agree or Disagree: 0 0