Houston Alexander's BKFC 21 warning: "If you want to draw it out, somebody is going to get hurt"

Houston Alexander's BKFC 21 warning: "If you want to draw it out, somebody is going to get hurt"

Tuesday, Aug 31 2021 by Eric Kowal

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), The World’s Fastest Growing Sport, cracks open another state on Friday, September 10 as BKFC 21 hits the Ralston Arena in Omaha, Nebraska broadcast live on the BKFC TV App in addition to globally on FITE.TV (8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT).


On this epic fight card, Omaha fan favorite, Houston ‘The Assassin’ Alexander clashes with Wes ‘Soldier’ Combs, (1-0) in the heavyweight division. Alexander is a former UFC fighter and accomplished mixed martial artist with a record of 17-16-1, while Combs returns to Bare Knuckle FC after defeating Adrian Miles at BKFC 9 in Biloxi, MS..


The fight on September 10 marks the first time since December 2017 that the now 49-year-old, Houston Alexander will step into the ring to fight professionally.


For Alexander, the time away from the ring and or cage doesn't really matter because according to "The Assassin" you can still find him training in and or out of the gym every single day.


“It is not a different sport," Alexander said when comparing the art of bare knuckle to that of MMA. "As far as I can tell it is still a combat sport. I come from this. I am a fighter. It comes naturally to me. You cannot come to my neck of the woods and not have me be a part of something like this. Just because I haven’t been out there professionally in a while doesn’t mean I haven’t been sparring with the up and coming fighters who have been here. Why spar with people for free when I can do it for real, and get paid? Why spar for free when you can get paid to do what you do best?”

 


Alexander's journey in combat sports began nearly 20 years ago with his first amateur bout taking place in 2002. Just like any athlete who has seen their share of ups and downs, Alexander doesn't shy away from his losses.


“A lot of people didn’t want to stand in front of me because their strategy was to not get hit," he said.


While with the UFC, Alexander was marketed as a brutal knockout artist after finishing both Keith Jardine and Alessio Sakara in back-to-back fights totaling less than two-minutes of fight time.


When asked if he would have been interested in bare knuckle competition had it been legally sanctioned back then, Alexander was certain that he would have thrown his name into the hat.


“Yeah of course," Alexander said. "There is no running from it. You can’t run when you are doing bare knuckle. What are you going to do? Get on your bicycle and run around the ring? This is something that is straight up, to the point, let’s not bullshit, and get it done with. Whether you like it or not, you can’t run.”


Alexander's opponent is not far off in age, entering the fight at 48 years of age and also entering the world of combat sports competition nearly 20 years ago in 2002.


“I don’t care who they put in front of me, but I think they did a great job of matchmaking on this one," Alexander said. "When you have to fight, you have to fight, but they matched us up pretty well. Relatively the same age, same type of experience."


“I’m sure it is going to be competitive," Alexander continued. "We both have the experience, we’re both expecting to knock each other out. I think this is going to be one of the better fights of the night because you’ve got two guys who like to bang. We both want a knockout, but let’s cut to the chase. If you want to draw it out, somebody is going to get hurt. There’s going to be a lot of abrasions, a lot of bruises, a lot of cuts, and a lot of blood. If you want to drag it out, ok, I’ll drag it out, but I’m always ready to give a knockout."


When asked about future competition following the upcoming contest, Alexander said he is playing a game of wait and see.


“We’ll see how it goes," he said. "I’ve been relatively injury free over the years. If this is something that turns out pretty well, which we are expecting it to do, then yeah we’ll continue. Like I said, ‘Why spar for free when you can get paid to do something that you love to do?’"


BKFC matchmaker Nate Shook won't have much work to do when it comes to booking any future opponents for "The Assassin," because Houston Alexander doesn't care who he faces.


“Anybody at 205-pounds," Alexander said. "I don’t care who it is, whoever they put in front of me, I’ll be ready. “Sometimes in entertainment, you just want to see people bang. In bare knuckle you either bang, or you run, and I don’t plan on running."


BKFC 21 is headlined by an outstanding welterweight clash between Omaha Hometown Hero, Dakota Cochrane, (2-0), clashing with fellow undefeated Mike ‘The Marine’ Richman’, (1-0, 1KO), of Rosemont, MN.


Co-featured in a battle of heavyweight arch-rivals, Former BKFC World Title Challenger, Sam ‘The Hillbilly Hammer’ Shewmaker (5-2, 2 KOs), of Gravois Mills, MO battles Josh ‘The Hammer’ Burns, (1-1, 1 KO), of Detroit, MI. Having engaged in a savage war of words on social media in recent weeks, both Hammer’s will finally have a chance to settle their dispute in the squared circle.


Advance tickets starting at $40 are now on-sale through the Ralston Arena website, www.RalstonArena.com or through the direct Ticket Link.The Ralston Arena is located at 7300 Q Street, Ralston, NE 68127. Doors will open on the night of the event at 7:00 p.m. local time.