Alexander Karalexis (born September 20, 1977) is a retired American professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

. A professional from 2003 until 2011, Karalexis was a contestant on

The Ultimate Fighter 1 The debut season of The Ultimate Fighter (later designated ''The Ultimate Fighter 1'') premiered on January 17, 2005. Sixteen mixed martial arts fighters (eight light heavyweights weighing from 186 to 205 lb and eight middleweights weighing from ...

, and competed for the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

and WEC.

Background

Karalexis was raised in Hanson, Massachusetts, and is of Greek descent, as his father is an immigrant from Greece who also fought in the

Special Forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

. Karalexis began playing soccer when he was six years old, and was talented, going on to be the MVP of the Massachusetts All-Star Game, and also competed in

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

for all four years

Whitman-Hanson Regional High School Whitman-Hanson Regional High School is a public high school located in Hanson, Massachusetts, United States. The school serves students in grades 9-12 from the towns of Whitman, Massachusetts and Hanson, Massachusetts. It is part of the Whitman-H ...

. Karalexis then attended

Massasoit Community College Massasoit Community College is a public community college in Brockton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1966 and named for Massasoit, the Great Sachem of the Wampanoag. Massasoit Community College is accredited by the New England Commission of H ...

where he continued playing soccer for one year before being sidelined for the next season due to a recurring leg injury. When he became healthy, Karalexis began playing professionally for the Cape Cod Crusaders but again only played one season before being sidelined from the same injury. After the injury did not heal properly, Karalexis ventured into

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

and

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

before transitioning into mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts career

The Ultimate Fighter

Karalexis competed on

as a

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

, and was the third Middleweight pick on Team

Couture Couture may refer to: People * Couture (surname) Places Belgium * Couture-Saint-Germain, a village in the municipality of Lasne, Belgium Canada * Couture crater and Lac Couture, an impact crater and the lake that covers it in Quebec, Canada ...

. After the challenge in the third episode, Team Liddell won the pick and decided to have Diego Sanchez fight Karalexis in the very first Middleweight fight of the series. Karalexis was defeated via

rear-naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keikogi ...

submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

in the first round and was eliminated from the show. Karalexis later made a return for the series finale as a

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

to defeat Josh Rafferty via TKO in the first round. Karalexis then lost his next two fights in the UFC against

Kenny Florian Kenneth Alan Florian (born May 26, 1976) is an American retired mixed martial artist and commentator who formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He formerly served as an analyst for UFC on Fox from 2011–2018, and he also ...

and

Jason Von Flue Jason Lee Von Flue (born August 1, 1975) is a former American mixed martial artist who appeared on the second season of ''The Ultimate Fighter''. A professional competitor since 1999, he has competed for the UFC, WEC, Strikeforce and King of the ...

, respectively, before being signed by the WEC.

WEC

Traditionally a Welterweight, Karalexis dropped down a weight class in order to compete in the Lightweight division. Karalexis' first Lightweight bout was on June 3, 2007 at ''

WEC 28 ''WEC 28: Faber vs. Farrar'' was the fourth mixed martial arts event held by the World Extreme Cagefighting under Zuffa management. The event was held on June 3, 2007. ''WEC 28'' was the first WEC to be aired live on the Versus Network. The main ...

'', where he defeated Josh Smith by majority decision. Karalexis was scheduled to face WEC newcomer

Kamal Shalorus Kamal Shalorus (; born 26 August 1973) is an Iranian-born British professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division of ONE Championship. A professional competitor since 2008, Shalorus has also formerly competed for the U ...

on November 18, 2009 at

WEC 44 ''WEC 44: Brown vs. Aldo'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting. It took place on November 18, 2009 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background Anthony Pettis was originally slated to face Rob McCul ...

., but a broken hand suffered in training has forced Karalexis off the card. Karalexis was expected to face Zach Micklewright on April 24, 2010 at

WEC 48 '' UFC Presents: Aldo vs. Faber'', also referred to as ''WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on April 24, 2010 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. This was WEC's first ...

, but Micklewright was forced off the card with an injury. Karalexis instead faced

Anthony Pettis Anthony Paul Pettis (born January 27, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League. Pettis formerly fought in the Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight divisions of the ...

, losing via submission. Karalexis was expected to face WEC newcomer

Zhang Tie Quan Zhang Tiequan, or Zhang Tie Quan (, born July 25, 1978), often anglicized to Tiequan Zhang, is a Chinese mixed martial artist, who last competed as a Lightweight in the UFC. A professional competitor since 2005, Tiequan spent most of the beginni ...

on September 30, 2010 at

WEC 51 ''WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on September 30, 2010 at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. This was the only event that the WEC hosted in Colorado. Backgr ...

. However, Karalexis was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by

Jason Reinhardt Jason Reinhardt (born October 31, 1969) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor from 2000 until 2011, Reinhardt fought in the UFC and King of the Cage. Mixed martial arts career Early career After compiling a 1-0 amate ...

. Reinhardt was subsequently injured in training himself, and replaced by Pablo Garza Following the UFC/WEC merger in December 2010, Karalexis was released by

Zuffa, LLC Zuffa, LLC () is an American sports promotion company specializing in mixed martial arts. It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta to be the parent entity of the ...

, having lost 3 of his last 4 WEC fights. He would return to action on June 10, 2011 in a

bout against Tiawan Howard at CES MMA VI: Nowhere To Hide, losing via a controversial split decision. After the fight, a member of Howard's corner bumped into Karalexis, inciting a brawl that was ended by

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

Personal life

Karalexis is close friends with NFL star

Jared Allen Jared Scot Allen (born April 3, 1982) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He played college football at Idaho State and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth ...

, who also trained with Karalexis and cornered his fight at

against

. A native of Boston, Karalexis is a fan of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

baseball team.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 10–6 , Tiawan Howard , Decision (split) , CES MMA VI: Nowhere To Hide , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Lincoln, Rhode Island Lincoln is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,529 at the 2020 census. Lincoln is located in northeastern Rhode Island, north of Providence. Lincoln is part of the Providence metropolitan statistical are ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–5 ,

, Submission (triangle choke) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:35 ,

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–4 , Greg McIntyre , TKO (punches) , WEC 39 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:19 ,

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–4 , Bart Palaszewski , TKO (punches) , WEC 37: Torres vs. Tapia , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:11 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 ,

Ed Ratcliff Edward Norris Ratcliff (born March 5, 1983) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2005 until 2010, he fought in the WEC. Background Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Ratcliff is African-America ...

, TKO (punches) ,

WEC 31 ''WEC 31: Faber vs. Curran'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC). The event took place on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and was aired live on the Ve ...

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:26 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Josh Smith , Decision (majority) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , Olaf Alfonso , TKO (referee stoppage) ,

WEC 25 ''WEC 25: McCullough vs. Cope'' was the first mixed martial arts event held by the World Extreme Cagefighting under Zuffa management. The event was held on January 20, 2007. ''WEC 25s main event was a championship fight for the vacant WEC Lightwei ...

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:53 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–2 , Thomas Denny , Decision (unanimous) , WEC 23: Hot August Fights , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly, La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 2 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–2 , Josh Lydell , Submission (rear-naked choke) , RF 13: New Hampshire , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–2 ,

, Technical Submission (

Von Flue choke A chokehold, choke, stranglehold or, in Judo, shime-waza ( ja, 絞技, translation=constriction technique) is a general term for a grappling hold that critically reduces or prevents either air (choking)''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' ( ...

) ,

UFC Fight Night 3 ''Ultimate Fight Night 3'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 16, 2006. The event took place at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was broadcast live on Spike TV in the Unite ...

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:17 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–1 ,

, TKO (doctor stoppage) , UFC Ultimate Fight Night , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:52 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Josh Rafferty , TKO (strikes) ,

The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale The debut season of The Ultimate Fighter (later designated ''The Ultimate Fighter 1'') premiered on January 17, 2005. Sixteen mixed martial arts fighters (eight light heavyweights weighing from 186 to 205 lb and eight middleweights weighing from ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:40 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Mike Littlefield , Decision (unanimous) , Mass Destruction 15 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:00 , Boston, Massachusetts, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Ted Govola , KO , Mass Destruction 13 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Mike Varner , Decision (unanimous) , Mass Destruction 11 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Julio Colon , TKO (corner stoppage) , Mass Destruction 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:00 ,

, United States ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karalexis, Alex American male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists from Massachusetts American people of Greek descent Living people 1977 births Whitman-Hanson Regional High School alumni Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu