Two years ago at Island Fights, Alexander and Kilburn crossed paths and it wasn’t long before Kilburn’s name was placed in front of the up-and-coming Alexander. Kilburn remembers Alexander’s team saying he wasn’t ready, but Alexander remembers the situation a little bit differently.
“My record was 3-2 at the time and I was just moving to the States,” Alexander explains. “They offered me either him or a Muay Thai guy. The Muay Thai guy I was more excited to fight. He’s coming from a loss and he’s just trying to get a fight and the other guy they gave me was the Muay Thai guy and I’m a kickboxer. I started training kickboxing, then I made the transition to MMA, so I looked on the paper and said ‘No, I want to fight a Muay Thai guy because that was a more exciting fight for me.”
The flying knee. Becoming quite the staple in the Florida MMA scene.#IslandFights58 pic.twitter.com/Mwinp2Kgbv
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) August 3, 2019
Alexander explains that he simply wasn’t familiar with Kilburn at the time, but his name has been on his radar ever since. And while he’s watched Kilburn make two trips to the UFC Octagon, he thought the matchup was likely gone forever.
“I know he’s trying to make his way back to the UFC and I’m trying to go there for the first time,” Alexander said. “I kind of know he likes to strike, he has a good base for the fight, he’s a tough kid, young too, I think he’s like 25-26. I know he’s a good fighter and a tough kid, it’s going to be a good fight.”
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Kilburn vocally scoffs at the idea that Alexander has improved enough to defeat him two years later, but Alexander has detailed reasons why he’ll be too much for Kilburn.
Stalking the prey…. Excellent way to close out the round.#IslandFights58 pic.twitter.com/l13t8zOTu8
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) August 3, 2019
“I look forward to pushing my pace, breaking him mentally and picking him apart,” Alexander said. “I think by the second round he won’t want to be in there anymore because his whole gameplan in his head right now, he’s been talking a lot about how he’s going to do it, what he’s going to do. Honestly, I’m not the type of guy to be like, ‘oh, I’m going to finish him in the first, second, third round,’ but I definitely look to finish the fight, no matter what round it is. In my mind right now, I think I can see with my training, gameplan, everything, I look for the second and third round.”
There may not be bad blood from Alexander, but there’s definitely a big fight feel.
Catch the fight two years in the making on Friday, February 11, ONLY on UFC FIGHT PASS!
