Kimbo to Face Houston Alexander in Debut

The UFC has officially confirmed that Kimbo Slice will face Houston Alexander in his UFC debut live at The Ultimate Finale December 5 on Spike at 9pm, and Roy Nelson will take on Brendan Schaub for the six-figure contract.

This is the fight Kimbo has been waiting his whole life for. It’ll be an old school brawl with millions of people watching. Kimbo would be wise expect some leg kicks but there won’t be much ground and pound and there won’t be any jiu-jitsu. This will be the striking matchup that plays right into Kimbo’s –and Alexander’s– strength and it’ll be a matter of who can take more punishment. Kimbo’s ground game has gone nowhere since his days in the backyard and that doesn’t seem to be changing so this matchup will go a long way in determining whether he’s got enough standup to carry him through a successful UFC career.

In related news, Roy Nelson will get his chance to prove that he’s got what it takes to become one of the UFC’s top contenders in this matchup with Schaub.

Brendan Schaub is a good fighter. I still have to give the edge to Roy, but he’s not going to be able to walk through this fight the way he did in some of the bouts during the season. For my money, Roy needs to take this to the mat early and grapple his way to a six-figure contract. Schaub showed that he’s got enough power to give people problems and I’ve been a little disappointed in Roy’s standup all season; he may have been intentionally holding back to save energy but I did not see his striking live up to its potential. He hasn’t shown off much of his ground game yet and I’m betting that it’s far superior to Schaub’s. Tune in Saturday night at 9pm to find out.