Few would challenge the statement that Kenneth Alexander is a genuine warrior. A man who truly loves to sport fight, who’s done 1 tour in Somalia, 2 in Afghanistan and 2 in Iraq with the U.S. Marines – volunteering for special forces and serving as a sniper.

One can imagine the poise and control needed to be a sniper in the modern military and the confidence that experience would bring to one’s life and naturally to sport fighting.

Kenneth trains in Sacramento as part of ‘Team Alpha Male’ with none other than WEC great Uriah Faber and a team of close-knit professionals.

Sitting down on a San Francisco rooftop it becomes obvious just how diverse this enigmatic man’s life is.

Q: Why Fighting?
Some people will find this strange, but it was the easiest thing to do. After my 5 tours with the Marines I was successful in the corporate world – but I hated it. It was soul sucking. Sitting in a cube, talking on the phone – now that’s torture! People find it hard to believe that I love what I do, but I can’t imagine how some folks do those kinds of jobs.

Q: Where are you in your career?
I’m riding a wave till I hit the beach, till it’s not fun. I wake up everyday with a big smile saying, “I fight for a living!”.

Q: What’s life outside the gym/training like for you?
I have my 4-year-old son (shared custody) so he’s a big part of my life. When he’s not with me I enjoy clubs, partying and hanging out. I’m also an adrenaline junky (go figure!), love to surf, snowboard, wakeboard, rock climb and go extreme mountain biking.

What’s starts to become clear is that it’s impossible to categorize this man. Born and raised in the backwoods of Mississippi, well educated, who drives a lifted Suburban – a sniper, cage fighter, family man, ‘Black Ninja’…

Q: What do you think is most misunderstood about Professional Fighters?
Many people think we’re uneducated barbarians, whereas most modern fighters have no ill will toward their opponents, are very smart, have one (or more) college degrees and are visionaries. Meaning, they see what they want out of the next moment of their bigger picture life and they are going for it.
Good fighting is like a chess match. You have to be 2, 3 moves ahead of your opponent. Yet, unlike chess someone is trying to take your head off while you’re playing.

Q: Why do you think you’ve been successful as a Pro fighter?
I love it and love doing it all day! This is about living life to it’s fullest – walking my own path with no regrets. When that cage door shuts, I’m sovereign of my body and everything that happens, it’s a great sense of freedom. If you truly enjoy what you do, you’re destined to be great.

What emerges is a man who’s self-created is his life (and his style of living) and in parallel has self-created his own unique style as a fighter.

Q: How would you describe your style of fighting? What makes you unique?
It’s like I’m a huge body of water surrounding and engulfing my opponents, he’s drowning in my moves. You can watch the tapes; I’ve never fought the same way twice. It’s very hard for my opponents to prepare for me because they never know how I’m coming at you.
I intentionally train atypical moves, combinations, stances, approaches, defenses, etc. You never know how to fight me.

Q: Is this where the ‘Black Ninja’ moniker comes from?
Yes, I’ve got so many looks, so many moves, which are unexpected – you never know where I’m coming from or how I’m going to fight you.

Q: Speaking of ‘Black Ninja’, I was told by your teammates to ask you about the ‘Black Ninja Bobble Head Doll. Care to explain?
[With a big laughing smile] Sure, my teammates are a close group and they’re always looking for a way to dig at you. When I spar/fight, I have a lot of head movement, so, one day I come into the front desk of the gym to find the doll you mention.
These guys really did a great job. They reworked a bobble head doll with a Gi, a purple belt [Kenneth’s current rank], MMA gloves with the WEC logo, fight shorts with all my sponsors logos, they made these paper glasses [he wears glasses most of the time] and of course it was black.
Thing too, is that I had to leave it there, because if I took it down they would really have known it got to me, it stayed at the front desk for months. It was really a good joke, one that is obviously still going around. Truth is my team is solid – great guys.

Q: Speaking of your team, any insights on training with Uriah Faber?
Uriah really is the centerpiece, yet is an amazing team and we all work closely together. I think of them as the ‘Knights of the round table’. Whenever someone has a fight coming up, everyone rallies to help them – it’s an amazing group. We drill scenarios constantly and are always looking for unique/creative solutions.

Q: Part of that team is your four year old son, Donnie right?
Yeah, he’s great. When he lives with me we’re close to the gym and he loves going and that makes everything easier for me. In fact, he’ll get mad on my day off, “Daddy why can’t we go to the gym and play.” It’s amazing what he can do already.

Q: How would you feel if your son wanted to be a fighter?
I’d love it. I’ll never push him into it. He’ll decide what he does with his life, but I’d totally support him if that’s what he wants to do.

Q: Speaking of teamwork, anyone who deserves a quick shout out?
I want to give a huge thanks to my mom and step dad for all their support. To Urijah Faber for giving me my new home at Ultimate fitness and all of my training partners. To one of my best friends Melissa Vela at E.G. Threads for always taking care of everything that I need screen-printed. To Sean McDonald and Devastate Fight wear for making the Black Ninja Shirts. Big thanks to Myers Inc. for booking all my fights and last but not least Cory Cass and the Fight Lab for getting me back in the fight game after I came back from war.

Q: Speaking about the hard work, what are the key aspects to your conditioning?
Short (sprints) and long road-work (long being 5-10 miles), a full range of strength work (weights, sleds, etc.) and lots of sparing.

Q: Nutrition is such an important part of all this, can you speak to that?
Nutrition is also a huge part of my life. Without a proper diet it would be impossible for me to make the 155lb weight class. I try not to deprive myself of all the good foods or with a strict diet when I don’t have a fight lined up; I just try and stay conscious of portion control. Once I get a fight scheduled that’s when everything gets really strict.

Q: How do things shift when you’re preparing for a specific Fight?
The sparring gets harder, more intense. I don’t care about who I’m fighting until about 3-4 weeks out. Then I start watching tapes and making plans about how I’ll destroy them. Once I get one week out, all the hard work stops, the workouts are light (about 30 minutes), I’m spending time with Donnie and getting my head together for the fight.
This sounds like the way a sniper would approach his job. The target does not matter so much until they’re close enough to hit them.

Q: Thinking about how hard you guys train, how do you feel about having such a busy/full schedule?
I love my life, anytime I need some time away or to myself I take it.

Q: How do you maintain the kind of energy level that’s required to train 4-5 hours day plus teach, be a single father and have your own recreation time?
I think it’s two things. I think part of it you’re born with the other part comes from loving what you do.

Q: You said in another interview that “You have to ignore misery and pain.” how do you do that?
Its all a state of mind. It only bothers you if you let it. There are people starving around the world, I’m getting paid for this. You’ll heal; it’s only 15-25 minutes of fighting. Focus, get your job done!

The picture emerges; there is NOTHING stereotypical about Kenneth Alexander the person or the fighter. His upbringing, his career choices, the car he drives, the hobbies he chooses, and the varied and unique style of fighting he brings to the cage – a man created in his own image.

Q: Let’s say it’s an hour before fight time, you’re in the locker room with some teammates getting ready for the match. What’s going through your head?
Put on a good show, be the best Kenneth Alexander I can be, create a fight I can be proud of the next day, be in my ‘flow’, be 2-3 moves ahead of my opponent.

Q: When you refer to flow, what do you mean?
Relaxed mind, heart and body, everything is tuned, no second-guessing, being in the moment – beyond thinking.

Q: What’s the hardest part of pro fighting for you?
As a big 155 pounder, weight cut is pretty tough. But I always keep myself clear and thankful. I know there are people around the world who are not eating food or not drinking clean water because they don’t have any. When you really know how bad things can be (and I do know) it’s easy to keep perspective.

You ask me, would I rather be shot at or work in a suit and tie or be a fighter? – I’ll take this anytime!

Links to things important to Kenneth Alexander:

www.ultimatefitness.pro
www.thefightlab.net
www.mmaincorporated.com
www.egthreads.com
www.devastatefightwear.com

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