American Mixed Martial Arts fighter, Houston "The Nebraskan Assassin" Alexander, will match up against Thiago Silva at UFC 78 on Saturday, November 17th. The MMA fighter took some time to talk to BuddyTV the other day about how he is preparing for his fight, what his kids think of their superstar UFC fighting Dad, and how he plans to shock everyone on the night of the fight. Check out the full interview transcript and the mp3 audio below.
Hi I'm Rob Symington with BuddyTV and I'm here with Houston Alexander today. How are you doing Houston?
I'm doing fine, how are you?
I'm doing great. So it's really great to have you as an interview guest on BuddyTV and I am really looking forward to this upcoming fight against Thiago Silva. As far as I'm concerned there are definitely like two main card fights that night, so I think that's going to be exciting. Now I know you have many different responsibilities in your life, so I'm curious what does a typical day of training look like for you? And how do you squeeze it all in?
I start out the day by getting up at 5:30 in the morning and make it to the gym by 6. Then we do our first set ... session I have for the day. We do a lot of stretching, a lot of cardio work, all types to just get ready for the day. Second session starts at about 10 o'clock where I'm doing a lot more heavy lifting, lots of weights, and lots of calisthenics ... hills, a little bit of everything. Third session will be at one o'clock where I'm doing a lot of technical stuff. I'm doing a lot of wrestling, jiu-jitsu, boxing, sparring, we do a little bit of everything. And before I go to bed there's another work-out which is like 15mins where I'm doing like push-ups, sit-ups, a lot of dumb-bell work right before I even go to bed. So that's up to three or four times a day.
That's really a full day. I would assume you probably get a good amount of exercise coaching your sons football team as well?
Football season is over, so I don't have to worry about coaching.
Alright. If your fighting career keeps on going as it is, do you plan on wearing down the amount of things you do to focus on your fighting career?
You know, I don't know. I don't know if I'm going to be able to downsize any of that because I like to keep active, you know? And with me being active I just like to keep doing what I'm doing and do the fighting at the same time. But, you know, as long as they're giving us this amount of time to prepare for a fight, it's usually like 3 months in between a fight, I think I'll be fine.
Very good. Very good. So, talking a little bit about this upcoming fight, what do you think about Thiago Silva as a fighter?
Oh Thiago is a very athletic guy. He's probably one of the better Brazilians I've seen. Very athletic, very aggressive. He does kind of like I do, he starts himself right out of the gate and it should be an interesting fight because both fighters like to go after each other.
Yeah. Definitely. Just like you mentioned, he's also know for his aggressiveness and striking, but he's also a jiu-jitsu expert. So, I was wondering do you think he'll try to take it to the ground instead of stand with you? Seeing that you're also very good on your feet?
I don't know. You know, I think Brazilians are all very prideful. So he might stand up, he might go toe-to-toe because that's what the UFC fans want to see. They want to see our guys go toe-to-toe so I don't think he'll take me to the ground right away. But I think that once he finds out my strength, I think that's the first reaction of a lot of people, to take me down. But he has to get past the first part of the fence first to actually see my ground game, so we'll see what happens.
Right. And then coming off two first round wins, we haven't had much chance to see your ground game. How comfortable are you on the ground?
I'm very comfortable. I have great coaches in Curly Alexander, the guys a very accomplished ref and has coached for over 35 years. He's won a lot of national championships and stuff and he has over 800 state championships himself. And Bob Shermer, I don't know if you guys are familiar with Bob Shermer, he's one of the best jiu-jitsu masters here. He's located in the United States from Chicago. His team is one of the best in the world. And as far as the other deal, my stand-up Mick Doyle, he's a two time world champion muay thai, kickboxing. I have a great staff that maybe a lot of people don't know about, but it's our world kept secret.
Right. Well we'll definitely see what happens. I'm looking forward to it either way. Both you guys are pretty explosive guys so either way I think the fans are going to get what they paid for.
That's the plan because I know If I was sitting in the audience I wouldn't want to see a boring fight. So I'm going to do my best to give the fans what they want.
So what's your prediction for the fight? How do you think you're going to finish him?
There's not a prediction, but we plan on knocking him out. That's always the plan when going into a fight because again that's what the fans want to see ... they want to see two guys going at it for the money. And that's our plan, it's not a secret.
Alright, great. And do you have any idea who your next opponent might be if this goes well for you?
No. No idea at all. I think they go from fight to fight. It's up to Dana and Joe. They decide who I'm in the right with and that's who I'll go with.
Do they contact you fairly quickly after the fights to let you know who's coming next?
Yeah. I think this go round was fairly quickly. It was really quick. It was quicker than last time. Maybe it's a habit because I'm used to fighting every week in the local sections here, so a three month layoff is kind of weird to me. So maybe they'll let me know soon enough.
Do you have any rituals or things you do for good luck before your fights?
You know I don't have any rituals but like every fighter, I'm assuming every fighter does it but I don't know, I say a little prayer before I get into the ring. My motivational fact is my kids. I say a little thing for my kids and then I get in the ring and do it.
Do you have any of your kids traveling to the UFC fights with you?
No, not this go round because when I'm on the road it's all business. It's all strictly business. I have my coaches, I don't have my entourage, it's all strictly business and I'm focused on that fight. I'm focused on that individual. And I'm focused on the task at hand, so I don't want any distractions.
What do your kids think of their dad doing so well int eh UFC and being a real contender for that light heavyweight title?
I think they would compare me to Batista. WWE. Even though they enjoy me fighting, I think they enjoy the WWE a little bit better than what I'm doing.
Gotcha. Is there anyone in particular that you'd like to be in the octagon against? Or just pretty much whoever comes at you?
You know I'm going to take the political round on this one, it doesn't matter who it is. Anyone in our division I'll be ready for them. It'd be an honor to get in the ring with any of the other guys who are accomplished and in the UFC.
So when you're going to watch a fight, who do you get excited about? Who are your favorite mixed marital artists to watch currently?
You know what, I like watching Randy. Randy Couture, he's a really good guy. I also watch Silva, I think is 185 pounds, he's really good to watch. And of course Sean Sherk, he's another guy that I watch. So there are a few guys who fit that bill that I like watching.
Yeah. Those are all definitely at the top of my list as well. You know, we're really looking forward to this upcoming fight seeing that both of you guys are really going to jump in and get at it right off the bat. Who do you think is going to get off the first shot in this one?
I don't know. I'm going to try to get the first one off. I'm going to go ahead and set it off for everyone. So hopefully I can get the first shot and hopefully I can get the last.
Alright, and then lastly for you, are you going to be making any appearances in New Jersey before UFC 78 starts?
I don't know. My agents are working on that now. I wouldn't mind going to Hot 97 and visit with Funkmaster Flex. You know because I'm really big into hip-hop culture so to make an appearance in that show would be historical to me. Anyplace that would even want me I would love to go. We'll see what they got set up for me as soon as they get there.
Knowing that you're so into music, do you have your song that you're going to walk out to picked out?
Yeah. I think I'm going to surprise the east coast because I'm know a lot of guys on the east coast expect me to come out to a rap song, but I think I'm going to come out to Kid Rock.
Oh. Fantastic.
Yeah, so I'm going to surprise everybody. It's not going to be a surprise if they listen to your show.
Well I guess my guys will just have the inside track.
(Laugher) Yeah I'm going to come out to Kid Rock.
Awesome. Well Houston I really want to thank you for your time today, we definitely appreciate it. And from all of us here at BuddyTV we wish you very good luck on November 17th and thanks for your time Houston.
No problem, I appreciate it man. And I'd like to thank all the UFC fans for all their support, my coaching staff, and my family and friends. And I appreciate BuddyTV for having me on.
Interview Conductor: Rob Symington
Image Courtesy: houstontheassassin.com