Sokoudjou to face Houston Alexander at Shark Fights 13
Two former UFC light-heavyweight veterans recently released from the promotion are set for a challenge at Shark Fights 13 in Amarillo, Texas on Sept 11. It is a battle of killers as Rameau Thierry “The African Assassin” Sokodjou faces off against Houston Alexander, also known as “The Assassin”.
Slug Fest Ahead
Both fighters in this matchup have made their name in mixed martial arts through a history of spectacular knockouts. Sokoudjou’s debut in the PRIDE fighting championships saw him knockout Antonio Rogerio Nogueira as a 16 to 1 underdog, 23 seconds into the first round. He went on to dispatch another Brazilian, Ricardo “The Brazilian Tiger” Arona, in a similar fashion, with a punch and soccer kick TKO 1 minute and 59 seconds into the first round.
Alexander had a similarly explosive entrance into the mainstream with a spectacular knockout of then-promising Ultimate Fighter alumnus Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine. His next fight against Italian boxer Alexio Saddara at UFC 75 was a brilliant knockout win from a vicious flurry of knees and punches. The fight won knockout of the night honors for Alexander.
While both assassins have racked up an impressive amount of knockouts (six for Alexander, seven for Sokoudjou) there is a glaring mismatch in their ground game. Rameau Thierry holds a black belt in judo and is considered one of the best judokas in mixed martial arts. Training since the age of six in his native Cameroon, Sokoudjou has over 20 years of experience in the art of the takedown, winning the US Judo Open in 2001. Houston Alexander’s ground defense has been questioned in the past, with less than spectacular ground work in his first round TKO loss to Thiago Silva’s mounted punches at UFC 78.
Nothing to lose
While doing well in the leagues in which they started, both Sokoudjou and Alexander have had difficulty in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Alexander faced three straight losses after his fight against Sakara, one by TKO, one by submission and one by knockout, leaving all aspects of his game plan suspect. After winning a trivial heavyweight bout against Sherman Pendergarst at Adrenaline, a minor fight promotion based in Iowa, he was pitted against Kimbo Slice. The fight saw an evasive and tenuous Alexander lose on the cards by the far from technical Slice, after which he was cut from the organization.
The African Assassin faced similar difficulties from the outset. Coming with a solid fan base from his victories in PRIDE FC, he was pitted against future light heavyweight champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida in a fight that saw Sokoudjou submitting to an arm triangle. Afterwards, Sokoudjou went on to secure one win against Kazuhiro Nakamura by a TKO due to leg injuries. However, this was followed by two consecutive losses, a TKO by Brazilian muay thai practitioner Luiz Cane and an anaconda choke submission to Renato Sobral. He left the UFC with a record of 1-2, cut after the fight with Cane.
After their release from the UFC, both fighters have faced more suspicion on their strike defense. Sokoudjou was knocked out by Gegard Mousasi at a Strikeforce event, and later by the much smaller Ikuhisa Minowa. Alexander also sustained another TKO loss to Joey “The Mexicutioner” Beltran.
Final Thoughts
Due to the inconsistent chins and massive punching power of both opponents, this is truly a fight that could go either way. An explosive first round is almost guaranteed and with Shark Fights’ small promotion size, it is unlikely either fighter will exercise the same caution he did in the UFC.
Shark Fights 13 will be broadcast live from HDNet on Septmeber 11th.
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