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It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't at all what fans were expecting, but on Saturday night in Las Vegas, NV, Kimbo Slice picked up his first victory in the Octagon with a unanimous decision victory over Houston Alexander.
The first and third rounds consisted of Alexander circling the outside of the cage with Kimbo hesitant to engage. Not wanting to make any mistakes, Kimbo employed a patient approach that, along with Alexander's inactivity, cause loud boos from the crowd.
After the fight, Kimbo said to MMAJunkie.com, "It's not an easy thing because I first was a streetfighter, and being a streetfighter, there was no training in my style of fighting. I just went in there basically with my instincts, watching the guy's movement, and countering him. But at this level of the game, and as a professional fighter in the UFC, you have to be like genius-type smart because you have all these dimensions you have to ball in one. You've got to know when to counter and when to not hit, when to not engage and try to wait it out."
The fight wasn't without excitement, however, as Kimbo shocked the crowd and viewers everywhere with a suplex takedown and some improved groundwork in the second round. In the only clear offense of the fight, Kimbo landed a few shots of ground and pound in the mount and nearly had a choke in on Alexander on the ground. He was unable to finish the fight there, but for the first time in his fighting career Slice showed signs of being able to be more than just the backyard brawler he's been billed as his entire career.
Kimbo wouldn't have gotten to this point had he not called Dana White's bluff on how to get into the UFC. After continually degrading and badmouthing Slice while he was being pushed as the sport's biggest star by EliteXC, White said the only way Kimbo would get to the UFC would be to go through The Ultimate Fighter house. Well, Kimbo did just that, losing to eventual show winner Roy Nelson in the first bout in the house.
Kimbo's still got a long way to go in his progress as an actual MMA fighter, but he's clearly making improvements and is working on his weaknesses. For Houston Alexander, a terrible gameplan and a fight that has invoked Kalib Starnes comparisons by Dana White likely means he's on his way out of the organization once again.
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