Karalexis: ‘I fight to beat people up’
Make no mistake about it, WEC lightweight Alex Karalexis (10-4 MMA, 4-2 WEC) fights for one reason, and one reason…
Make no mistake about it, WEC lightweight Alex Karalexis (10-4 MMA, 4-2 WEC) fights for one reason, and one reason only: he likes to hurt people.
A veteran of the very first edition of “The Ultimate Fighter,” Karalexis has been on the big stage since 2005, but something got lost along the way.
As mixed martial arts developed into a mainstream sport, Karalexis found just moderate success while he tried to fit the bill of an athlete in the budding industry. But as Karalexis readies for his “Aldo vs. Faber” showdown with Anthony Pettis, the Boston native says it’s time to return to his roots.
“I love how everybody is like, ‘Oh, the fighters are so respectful,'” Karalexis told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I hear that, but to do what we do, everybody’s got an issue. Whether you’ve got a girlfriend issue, a mommy issue, a daddy issue, something makes you get inside of there and fight in a cage.”
Karalexis said it’s that internal angst that always drove him to success in his younger years. Now 32, Karalexis said it’s time to channel that energy once again.
“Fighting for me is more of who I am than what I do,” Karalexis said. “My thing is, I didn’t grow up in a dojo getting a black belt, blue belt, brown belt. I don’t even have a belt. I never grew up in that whole respect kind of thing.
“My fighting background is, ‘[Expletive] you, I’ll be outside.’ Sometimes I wouldn’t even finish my beer. I don’t need to stretch. I don’t need to warm up.”
A former welterweight contender, Karalexis has found himself involved in several memorable battles in his time as a mixed martial artist. And with five of his 10 wins coming by knockout or TKO, Karalexis does little to hide his intentions when he steps into the cage.
“I’ve done a lot of thinking, and I’ll probably get in trouble for saying this, but to me, I was most successful when I had hate in my heart, and I let it out,” Karalexis said. “I don’t care about just winning. It’s cagefighting. It’s not pretty, and it’s not about competition for me.
“I don’t care about competition. If I want competition, I’ll go back to playing soccer or something. I’ll do wrestling tournaments. This is not competition for me. For me, it’s about being the baddest mother[expletive] around. I want to beat your ass.”
It’s a refreshing attitude from the perspective of a mixed martial arts fan, especially in light of the controversy surrounding the latest disappointing performance from UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva at this past weekend’s UFC 112 event.
“Anderson Silva’s past few fights – and I joke around, but I’m also serious – if I ever fought like that, my family would be in my dressing room like, ‘Change your name; that’s an embarrassment,'” Karalexis said. “‘That’s not who you are. That’s not who we are. That’s not how Boston is.’
