http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/58684 Recent articles about Houston Alexander en-us This is the big fight for basic cable TV broadcast that Dana White put together to counter the biggest card of the year, Affliction : Banned. Does it match up? No, not even close, but it's worth a preview. Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin is about The Pound-4-Pound King of MMA Anderson Silva going up one weight class on short notice to challenge bigger (size-wise) boy James Irvin at 205 lbs. This is also about seeing whether James Irvin can back up his big talk. I don't think Irvin will back up his audacity in the Octagon, and after he has been knocked out, Irvin will be tasting the chocolate-covered foot of Anderson Silva. At the same time, Silva will be getting some chocolate-covered strawberries, delivered straight by UFC Octagon beauty Edith LaBelle. James Irvin is an exciting fighter who knocks out foes with hard punches and knees. If it was Patrick Cote moving up to light heavyweight to fight Irvin, I would predict a knockout win for Irvin. However, this is Anderson Silva we're talking about. Anderson Silva is an incomparably superior fighter to James Irvin in three main respects : 1. Silva simply moves better : He can switch feet, he can circle, he can move forward and zigzag while he's striking. With that alone, he will win most fights, especially in his prime. 2. Silva is a better groundfighter : It is the Muay Thai that gets Silva the attention, but he's a pretty damn good groundfighter as well, as the submission win over the naturally bigger Dan Henderson attests. In the unlikely chance that this fight goes to the ground, Silva has an even bigger advantage. 3. Silva has more striking weapons : James Irvin is a puncher type of fighter who will get into the clinch and throw some knees. He goes for Superman punches and occasionally the flying knees. However, Silva is better at each punch, kick, knee or elbow than Irvin ever will be, and is better by geometric proportions in combination. Irvin will be taking different strikes will be coming at so many different angles at such a rapid rate that Irvin will not know what hit him. Irvin may have the one-punch knockout power and the size advantage, but speed kills, and when that speed is complemented by superior footwork and technique, it usually results in a can of whoop-ass. Anderson Silva over James Irvin via TKO in Round 3. Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:43:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291642 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/291642 In anticipation of UFC 85, here are a couple videos of James Irvin's more "memorable" fights. Irvin, filling in for an injured Chuck Liddell, will be fighting Rashad Evans on June 7 in London. Sun, 04 May 2008 19:29:28 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/263396 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/263396 April 17, 2008. It's about six in the morning and I turn on the tube to the Balls channel over Sky Cable. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was on. And anything and everything that is UFC is good in my book as that is pretty much all I can watch these days with the exodus of the Solar Sports network (that carries most (if not all) of the NBA and WWE telecasts). A replay of the recently concluded UFC Fight Night 13 that happened last April 2, 2008 at the Broomfield Event Center in Broomfield, Colorado is on and about to "get it on" at that moment are James "The Sandman" Irvin and Houston "The Nebraskan Assassin" Alexander (Don't you just love it when people give themselves monikers and just don't seem to ever live up to the hype?). Both competitors were highly touted by the announcers (they always are. And I wouldn't know them from Adam outside of Chuck "The Ice Man" Liddell, Ken "The Most Dangerous Man" Shamrock, Randy "The Natural" Couture, and Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz) and rightfully so. At that point in the light heavyweight match up, Alexander (who debut in 2001) held a UFC career record of eight wins, two losses, and a one no contest, while Irvin (who entered in 2003 but has more career UFC fights) had a thirteen win, four loss, and one no contest record. I turned to my computer as the opening bell rung. Eight seconds went by. And it was all over. Referee Steve Mazzagatti called the match a T.K.O. (punches) in favor of "The Sandman" who felled Alexander with what the commentators called "A Superman Punch" followed by three ground strikes. Irvin went on to mimic "shooting a pistol" several times at Alexander who was tended to by referee Mazzagatti. Eight seconds. (Tied a 12-year old record for the fastest knockout in UFC history when Frye knocked out Thomas Ramirez at UFC 8 on Feb. 16, 1996.) That's all it took to best a man who most likely trained for several months for this event…everyday…three times-a-day. But those are the breaks of the game so to speak, as (they always say that) the safety of the fighters is paramount in such a physical sport and even for a brief moment Alexander was in no position to rationally protect himself. Later on, Alexander said in a post-fight interview that his child "punches harder" and that of the number of blows that Irvin did or didn't connect on—only the last one really was of any merit. In the end, a win is a win. James "The Sandman" Irvin has put yet another opponent to "sleep." Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:21:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/255748 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/255748 After getting the chance of a lifetime to face Chuck Liddell at UFC 85, Rashad Evans is now left without an opponent after Liddell withdrew from the event due to a torn right hamstring sustained in his training last week. Evans stepped up to face Liddell after Liddell's original opponent, Mauricio Rua, had to pull out due to an ACL injury. Evans must now play the waiting game. Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:37:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/253720 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/253720