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Bellator continues to pile up the ex-UFC fighters to populate their light heavyweight division. I am very much "for real" when I say that Bellator has signed Houston Alexander to replace the injured Christian M'Pumbu against Vladimir Matyushenko at Bellator 99. MMA Weekly reports that Matyushenko, who was originally the main event feature, will now drop down to co-main while the new main event sees Patricio Freire against Diego Nunes in the featherweight tournament quarterfinals.
Alexander (15-9, 2 NC) is now 41 years old and a winner of his last 2 fights against unknowns in his home state of Nebraska. Preceding that was a 3 fight losing streak which included Jan Blanchowicz, Gilbert Yvel, and Steve Bosse. Houston's UFC run is best remembered for his quick KOs of Keith Jardine and Alessio Sakara, the latter of which made Joe Rogan declare "Houston Alexander is for real!". Alexander never won another UFC fight, and the final straw was a loss to Kimbo Slice in the TUF 10 Finale, where both men were so exhausted that they were reportedly not removed from the cage until 5 days after the fight finished.
Instead of talking about the new fight, let's have a look at the age of Bellator's recent lightweight and light heavyweight signings:
Quinton Jackson - 35 years old
Tito Ortiz - 38 years old
Houston Alexander - 41 years old
Vladimir Matyushenko - 42 years old
Marcus Davis - 39 years old (will be 40 this week)
John Alessio - 34 years old
By the end of this week Bellator will have recently signed 3 fighters aged at least 40, as well as Rampage and Tito who are headlining their November PPV. John Alessio is the youngest of that group at 34, but he's been competing since 1998, is winless in his last 3, and is the only fighter in UFC history to sport an 0-5 record with the promotion.
You can't make this stuff up.
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