When opportunity knocks, you have to open the door and that is what Houston Alexander did when Bellator called him to face Vladimir Matyushenko last month on short notice.
Alexander got the call when former Bellator light heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu suffered a hand injury and Bellator needed to find a new opponent to face Matyushenko for his Bellator debut.
When the call came in, Alexander did not waste anytime in accepting the fight as he felt it was a great opportunity for him.
“There was not a second thought after that,” Alexander told TheMMAReport.com. “When I found it was for Bellator and when I found it was against a quality opponent like Vladimir and the added addition that it was Spike, I was happy. We just came off a win with Chuck Grigsby and it made sense for me.”
“Any opportunity in MMA is a great opportunity. You don’t downplay anything no matter what level it’s at. I plan on taking full opportunity of this situation and I’m just ready for anything.”
Alexander has been fighting professionally in mixed martial arts since 2001 and ten of his fifteen wins have come by knockout with nine of his career victories coming in the first round. The sport of mixed martial arts have evolved since he entered the sport and he believes the most important aspect of the sport now is transitions.
“I believe that everyone knows all the different mixed martial arts now. You have a lot of guys that know boxing, a lot of guys who know Muay Thai, kickboxing and jiu-jitsu. I think the most important part of the aspect of the game now is transitions. It has always been transitions.”
“For you to be able to transition from this, to that, to this without an hitch or without even thinking about it. That is what they will see different from Houston Alexander, the transition part of the game. It’s not that I lacked the experience of knowing the different elements of martial arts. The fact that you have to bring all that together, I think the transition game will be a lot better while the fans are watching.”
Matyushenko will be stepping into the cage since January of this year and his last five fights have all ended in the first round. The last time he had a fight that made it out of the first round was 2010 when he defeated Eliot Marshal by split decision.
Could conditioning be an issue for Matyushenko if this fight moves into the second or third round? Alexander is not sure about that and is expecting to see his opponent in great shape tomorrow night.
“Who knows what type of conditioning that Vladimir has been working on over the past couple of years. Just because that happened then, that was then and thats not now. I am expecting a Vladimir now and expect him to be in great shape. I am expecting this guy to come and fight. No matter what, when people get into the ring with Houston Alexander they know to being 100 percent and he is not going to be any exception. I don’t think he is even worried about what happened then because I’m not. I’m worried about what is happening now.”
Matyushenko does have a wrestling background and Alexander does expect him to attempt to get the fight to the ground if he has the opportunity.
“Of course, everyone in MMA wants to take Houston Alexander down because they are still worried about the ground game. I am not worried about my ground game, my jiu-jitsu and my takedown defense. I am not worried about it. I fully expect him to take me down if he gets that opportunity.”
Alexander expects this to be an old school fight with both fighters coming straight towards each other and plans to walk out of the Bellator cage with his third straight victory with this victory coming by knockout.
“Knockout because he is old school, I am old school. He is going to come forward, I am going to come forward and someone is going to get their ass kicked.”