Photo courtesy of Mick Doyle

Renaissance Man Redefined

Knowing what to call Houston Alexander really depends on what day you see him. If you grew up in his native Omaha you might have known Alexander by his graffiti tag, Scribble. These days on Sunday nights, listeners tuning into his show on Omaha’s Power 106.9 know him as Strong Arm. On a few Saturdays a year this recent addition to the Ultimate Fighting Championship steps into the Octagon as The Assassin.  It’s a name he earned fighting his way through the bush leagues of mixed martial arts on his way to the big show, a name he’ll stake claim to again on September 8th when he faces Alessio Sakara at UFC 75 in London. But it’s on Fridays during the school year when Houston does some of his most meaningful work. It’s on those days teaching Nebraska school children the true history of Hip Hop through his Culture Shock School Tour that he simply goes by Mr. Alexander. Educator, graf artist, DJ, professional ass-kicking machine­­––read up on what makes Alexander a modern day renaissance man along the lines of Leonardo Da Vinci or Isaac Newton, just with more tattoos and the ability to lock in a triangle choke.

Complex: I saw on the website for your radio station you go by the DJ handle Strong Arm, why didn’t you take that name into the ring?
Houston Alexander: Nah, because Strong Arm is a whole different ballgame. That’s the business aspect of my life. My cousin started calling me that a long time ago. Because he knew if he asked me to do something I’d get it done by any means necessary. So when I started working for the radio station, it just so happened that those guys started calling me the same thing because they knew I got stuff done.

Sounds like a good fit for the ring. You definitely got things done when you knocked out Keith Jardine in your debut.
[laughs] Well the Assassin thing is a whole different definition, you know, because I go in, I annihilate people, and get out. That’s what I used to do when I was on the small circuit.  You know, I used to come in, do my job, and leave. I never hung out, never drank or anything like that, I would just leave.  An assassin comes in, does his job, and he leaves.  You never know what happened. So, I don’t think I can do that now with the way the first fight went, but yeah, the name kind of stuck over seven years.

In your post-fight interview you said you’ve fought almost 200 fights in the past seven years…
Well, not almost. Over 200 amateur fights. Yeah, when I tell people that, they think I’m full of shit. But you know what, there were some nights, some of these shows, where I would fight six or seven times.

That’s gotta be pretty grueling.
You know what? I guess when you’re knocking people out in under a minute, it’s not too grueling on the body. I think one or two fights lasted over one round, or at least one minute over the past seven years that I can remember.  And there was some guy who was like 265 pounds, and all he did was hug me the whole match. I forgot the guy’s name, but I do remember that he was a tough bastard from Minnesota.

What was your progression to Mixed Martial Arts?
I actually started boxing as a kid. You know, and I picked it up and I started wrestling. I grew up with my sister and my two brothers and I have loads of cousins. I was always the protector in my family. I had to be a little rougher than the other guys.  And I always had to roughen them up just to toughen them up. I was always that type of guy.

When did you start your formal training?
I started maybe seven years ago. When I got into MMA, I was working with a guy named Chad Mason who in turn knew Mick Doyle [Alexander’s current coach] back then. So it’s weird that I’m coming back to Mick’s gym because I was there seven years ago just starting out.

How’d you get your first fight?
My first fight was on a dare. A friend of mine dared me to get into the ring. A place called Amnesia was having amateur fights on Tuesday nights here in Omaha. They packed them in. I had just gotten off of work, I used to work asphalt for ten years. I don’t know if you know anything about asphalt but it is hot as hell. I had just come off a ten or eleven hour shift. So I was hot. Literally. I signed the waiver and got in the ring with this guy. I knew how to box a little so I just pounded on him. It ended up being one of the bloodiest fights of the night. He bled all over me. But it ended up being a no contest because we were both so tired at the end of the fight. Being in a bar there was so much smoke I couldn’t continue at the third round. It was kind of goofy. After that I kind of got the hang of it and started coming back every week, took classes and there you have it.

I’ve heard a lot about your love of Hip Hop culture, were you a graffiti tagger growing up?
Well, you know, I’m not a graffiti tagger. I’m still a graffiti artist. Matter of fact, I just did a bridge for Red Bull with a group of guys maybe two months ago. I still do it, man. I’m 35 years old, but I’m just as involved in the hip-hop culture here as if I was when I was 15. In high school, I went by “Scribble,” but I kind of dwindled it down to having it just be “Scrib,” and the year of my birth, 1972. So, it would be “Scrib 1972.”

What gave you the most nervous energy, walking into the Octagon for the first time or tagging your first wall?
Probably tagging my first wall. I was probably more nervous doing that because you have to watch out for police when you’re actually trying to put up a burner. But you know what, I’m 35 years old, and me having over 200 something fights, man, I don’t think I was—I wasn’t nervous at all walking down the aisle to the Octagon. Matter of fact, I was really calm. I was really calm because I’m used to being in front of people, I’m in front of kids every single week for the School Tour. So, I think kids are harder audiences than adults. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel any type of energy. I felt energy from the crowd. I think it just energized me more than anything.

Going into your fight Keith Jardine called the match up a step down for him since you hadn’t made a name for yourself in the UFC. Did that motivate you or piss you off?
Nah, it didn’t piss me off because it was probably someone behind the camera antagonizing him. He doesn’t know me from a can of paint, and I don’t know him. I couldn’t speak bad about Keith because I don’t know him. So, I don’t take it personal. It’s all part of the business, man.

Well can you tell me a little bit about the Culture Shock School Tour?
I had been sitting on this idea for a long time about going inside schools and teaching the kids about the hip-hop culture versus what they’re learning about now. You know, these days they see the videos with women shaking their butt, and they see the cars, and they see the clothes, but they don’t know anything structurally about the culture,­ that rap is part of hip-hop, not hip-hop being rap. And a lot of these kids growing up don’t know anything about the culture that’s their culture. All they know is rap music. We teach them about the founding fathers of Hip Hop like Kool Herc and Coke La Rock.  We teach them how fun it used to be. Hip-hop is not fun now. It’s more geared towards labels. A lot of the time, I’m telling the kids that hip-hop is not about 22-inch rims, you know, it’s not about Hummer trucks, or Michael Jordan tennis shoes. It’s about music, dance, and art.

What artists turned you into such a devotee of Hip Hop culture?
Well you know what? Here’s the funny thing: none of those artists had influenced me that I mentioned at the time. One of the first persons that influenced me was probably Rock Steady Crew, and the fake graffiti artist in Beat Street.

The graffiti artist from Beat Street, the movie?
Yeah, Ramon. Ramon was the character’s name. Those two things were the influences that got me into hip hop culture. And Ramon, this guy didn’t really know­­–he was just an actor. Yeah, but it’s amazing that those two groups that actually influenced me to actually do graf art ­­­– you remember Flashdance, right? That was the first major motion picture that had break dancing in it.  It was 30 seconds of Rock Steady Crew. That clip influenced my whole life, period. I was hooked on hip-hop. I wanted to know about the dance, I wanted to know about the culture because of that 30-second clip.

What do you think is the main benefit above and beyond learning the history that these kids get from your program?
To me, the main education they're getting is they know, they're knowing their culture. They're not walking around being blinded by what’s on the radio. They know that there’s a foundation to their culture.

Would you recommend the life of an MMA fighter to the kids you teach?
If kids are aggressive enough and need to get that aggression out or they have the athletic ability to box or wrestle, then why not? To me it’s a safer sport than boxing. Look at a lot of the fighters that have come out of the boxing game, they can barely lift cups. I think it would be cool for kids to get into it, there’s a lot of exercise. There’s a lot of training, a lot of freaking training. If you’re a fat kid, get into MMA, you might lose a few pounds [laughs].

What are you thoughts on your next opponent, Alessio Sakara?
Well, you know Sakara, from the little film that I saw of him, Sakara actually keeps his hands up. I’m glad to see that a fighter actually keeps his hands up. A lot of these guys that I saw in the UFC, they kept their hands down. He has good fundamentals. From what I see, he gets it done. So, that’s the way I’m gonna approach it: that this guy, he’s trying to actually do the same thing that I’m trying to do to him. But it surprises me that he keeps his hands up.

What’s your mindset going into fight?
I don’t take anyone for granted. I don’t care if the guy’s five-foot, I don’t care if the guy’s 7-foot. I don’t care if the guy’s 150-pounds or 400-pounds. I never take anyone for granted. And I go in thinking the same thing that I go to any type of fight, I’m gonna be fighting to the death, man. It’s almost like the guy from 300. No retreat, no surrender. And I’m dead serious, man. But that’s just the mentality I have and I think you gotta be a little crazy to be in the Octagon.

If you’re in Omaha and want to hook it up with Houston or the members of his fight team head to Mick Doyle’s Kickboxing and Fitness Center, www.MickDoyle.com.

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