When Virgil Zwicker enters the Bellator cage tomorrow night, it will have been 91 days since he faced Houston Alexander at Bellator 129 and the fight ended in a majority draw.
The fight ended in a draw due to Alexander being deducted a point for illegal headbutts in the bout.
The will now meet for a second time tomorrow night on the main card of Bellator 132 from the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California on Spike TV.
In their first meeting, Zwicker (12-4-1) took the fight on five days notice and felt before the decision was read, it was going to end up being a draw. He felt he did enough to win the fight because of the damage he did in the bout. After the fight was over, his mind was set on having a rematch against Alexander.
“I definitely wanted this rematch,” Zwicker said. “I wanted to fight him again as soon as they announced that it was a draw. Then when I heard that Bellator was coming near me, I got on the phone with my manager and asked him to make it happen.”
Heading into the first fight, the belief with most people was this would be a stand up battle. However, Alexander was able to use his takedowns and limit the strikes of Zwicker. While Zwicker admitted that he should have been prepared for that aspect of the fight, a major difference this time will be the fact that he had a full training camp.
“The fact that I’ve had a proper camp for this fight is going to be a game changer for me,” he said. “The last time I thought Houston, I wasn’t even training when I got the call. I’m really excited that I’ve had a chance to prepare and get my cardio where it needs to be.”
Due to the headbutts in their first meeting, does Zwicker consider Alexander a dirty fighter?
“I don’t think Houston Alexander is a dirty fighter, I just think he’s old school in a lot of ways. He likes to use his head during his fights and he was grabbing my shorts when the ref couldn’t see, but I wouldn’t say he’s a dirty fighter. I like him too much to say that. At least I don’t want to believe that he is.”
He was surprised by the strength of Alexander and how he decided to lay and pray with him back at Bellator 129. While the first fight was a hometown fight for Alexander, the roles have reversed this time and Zwicker is going to be looking to put on a show for the fans.
“I’m going to stick to my game plan this time,” he said. “I’m going to use my distance and my range and not give him any opportunities at all. He’s coming into my backyard so I have to be on top of my game. I’m going to be implementing my game on him the entire time. I’ll be imposing my will from start to finish, as long as it takes.”
“I’m coming to knock him out. I want to go out there and just beat him up in the first round. It’s nothing personal. I would consider us to be friends. I definitely like the guy and I think he likes me but we’re going to go out there and put a show on for the fans.”