FanHouse HoustonAlexander

Former UFC star Houston Alexander hadn't stepped into the cage in more than a year and hadn't won a fight in more than two years, but on Friday night he got back on track at the Adrenaline MMA show in Council Bluffs, Iowa, easily beating a tomato can named Sherman Pendergarst.

But while Alexander needed to move to the small time to win a fight, he says he's still under contract with the UFC and plans to fight in the big time again soon, and that the UFC took the unusual step of allowing him to fight in the Council Bluffs show because it's close to his home in Omaha, Nebraska.

UFC light-heavyweight brawler Houston Alexander has broken his hand, forcing him out of his UFC 98 matchup with Andre Gusmao.

The news was first reported on the UFC's Twitter page.

The 37-year-old Alexander made a major first impression on UFC fans, knocking out Keith Jardine as a major underdog in his May 2007 debut, then following it up with another highlight-reel KO over Alessio Sakara.

MMA pioneer Renzo Gracie is in the midst of helping Matt Serra prepare for his UFC 98 grudge match with Matt Hughes, but he also has some personal long-term goals in mind. Gracie, who has not fought in over two years, recently told TriStateFighter.com that he plans to return to action in late 2009.

Gracie has not fought since February 2007 in the maiden voyage of EliteXC, and was awarded a victory in the main event after Frank Shamrock was disqualified for delivering an illegal knee while Gracie was grounded.

Gracie has fought just four times in the last five years, and is 13-6 with one draw and one no contest in his career.

After losing his third straight UFC fight last September, Houston Alexander's days of fighting inside the Octagon appeared to be over. The loss was especially disappointing for the mixed martial arts veteran because it happened in his hometown of Omaha, Neb. However, much to the surprise of many fans and analysts, Alexander (8-4) was given another chance to prove his worth in the UFC when he was booked against Andre Gusmao (5-1) at UFC 98 on May 23.

Alexander is certainly no stranger to tough situations: He's a single father raising six children on his own and also donated one of his kidneys to his ailing daughter nine years ago.

FanHouse spoke to the UFC light heavyweight fighter about getting his career back on track and juggling his many duties as a father with his MMA career. The interview is below.

As I watched Nate Diaz beat Josh Neer in the main event of Wednesday's UFC Fight Night, I was impressed with the way Diaz incorporated judo throws into his game. Here's Diaz talking about that after the fight:

"I always work judo," Diaz said. "We go to judo class from time to time in San Francisco and people come to our gym all the time. We're doing judo just like we're doing wrestling. Not with a gi judo -- I mean, we do that, too -- but we're doing tosses and throws."

Said Diaz of Neer, "That guy is a better fighter than any guy I've been fighting. He's a better fighter than most guys in UFC because he fights. He's not one-dimensional, he's not here to quit, he fights to the end and he goes 100 percent the whole time."

After the jump, see another post-fight interview, this one with Houston Alexander.

Eric Schafer submitted Houston Alexander with an arm triangle choke with just seconds remaining in the first round tonight in Omaha, winning a sensational fight to kick off tonight's UFC Fight Night on Spike.

The loss is a major disappointment for Alexander and for the home-town fans who came to cheer him on, and it raises the question of whether Alexander might be in danger of losing his UFC contract. Alexander is an exciting fighter and a fan favorite, but this is his third consecutive first-round loss, and the buzz heading into the fight was that it was a must-win for Alexander if he wanted to stay in the UFC.

Schafer was very impressive, mounting Alexander and dominating him on the ground before finally choking him out. In a classy move after the fight, he dedicated his win to the late Evan Tanner.

As for Alexander, he hasn't been impressive recently, but I hope Dana White keeps him around. Alexander is the kind of fighter who gives the fans a good show even when he doesn't fight particularly well, and there's always a place for guys like that on undercards. He'll never be a UFC champion, but Alexander deserves to keep fighting in the Octagon.

Here's Houston Alexander, a native of Omaha, talking on the local news about his bout with Eric Schafer at UFC Fight Night at the Omaha Civic Auditorium on Wednesday night:

Alexander isn't a great mixed martial arts fighter, but he does give the fans great shows: In his four UFC fights, he has two first-round knockout wins and two first-round knockout losses. I'm sure he'll have the home crowd behind him, and it's good to see that he's promoting the fight on the local news.

Also, kudos to Channel 6 in Omaha for reporting on UFC Fight Night and for explaining to the viewers that MMA is a legitimate sport. Fox 5 in New York could learn a thing or two from Channel 6 in Omaha.

After the jump, a couple more UFC Fight Night-related videos, featuring Alessio Sakara and Wilson Gouveia.

At Wednesday's UFC Fight Night, James Irvin stopped Houston Alexander in eight seconds for the fastest knockout in UFC history. Here's a look:

Alexander got up after referee Steve Mazzagatti stopped the fight and protested, saying he could have continued. That's no surprise; boxers and mixed martial arts fighters are tough competitors, and they almost always want to keep going. But it's the referee's job to stop the fight if the fighter is at risk of getting seriously hurt, and Mazzagatti did that job.

So I've been surprised how many people I've heard from in the last couple of days who think Alexander was right, and that Mazzagatti really did stop the fight too quickly. Sorry, but that's just not the way it works.

There's a reason that the referee's instruction "protect yourself at all times" has become such a well-established part of boxing and MMA: If at any point a fighter isn't able to protect himself, that ends the fight. Alexander was sprawled on the canvas and not protecting himself, and that was all Mazzagatti had to see. Congratulations to Steve Mazzagatti for doing his job perfectly.

James Irvin tied the UFC record for the fastest knockout tonight, finishing his fight with Houston Alexander at UFC Fight Night in eight seconds.

When Irvin and Alexander stepped to the center of the Octagon, Irvin cocked his fist and delivered a brutal right hand directly into Alexander's jaw. Alexander dropped like a sack of potatoes, Irvin pounced and delivered two more rights to Alexander's face while they were on the ground, and the referee immediately jumped in and waved the fight off. The official result is a TKO due to strikes, eight seconds into Round 1.

Alexander popped up almost immediately after the fight was stopped, leading some in the crowd in Broomfield, Colorado to boo what they thought of as a fast stoppage by the referee. And in the Octagon after the fight, Alexander said it shouldn't have been stopped.

But Alexander was wrong; it was definitely the right call: Replays showed that Alexander lost consciousness and was not in a position to protect himself. If the referee hadn't stopped the fight, he would have been risking a serious injury to Alexander.