ProMMA.info recently had the pleasure of speaking to one of the main event fighters from last weekend’s 5150 / XFL “New Year’s Revolution” card, Joey “The Mexicutioner” Beltran (10-3). Current 5150 Heavyweight Champion, Beltran defended his title against Houston “The Assassin” Alexander (9-6), who was coming off a much publicized decision loss to Kimbo Slice at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale in December.
The Mexicutioner absolutely dominated Alexander and proved once again The Assassin can’t whack anyone off his back. After nearly two rounds of battering, the referee had seen enough, stopped the fight, and awarded Beltran the TKO victory.
Beltran shared with us his thoughts on the fight, and although it was an important win, why he was not getting overly excited about it. He also had some advice for The Assassin, talked about what is next, who his “dream fight” would be, and more. Enjoy.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Hi Joey, thank you for taking the time to speak with us at ProMMA.info, how are you feeling after your big win this past Saturday night at “New Year’s Revolution” against Houston Alexander and how did it feel to get back on the winning track against such a well known opponent?
JOEY BELTRAN: I feel great, just getting back into the flow of training again. Honestly I am not getting too excited over my last performance, I mean yeah it was cool to be in there with Houston but I am my biggest critic and the facts are I was in the cage with an opponent with very limited grappling skills and I just attacked those weaknesses. So I am happy to get back on the winning side but I am not going to get too excited.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: How did he compare to what you imagined the fight would be like – was he tougher than you expected, about the same, or easier?
JOEY BELTRAN: The fight went almost exactly as I expected. I wanted to get the finish in the first round but he was tough as hell.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Was this the biggest win of your career, and if so, why?
JOEY BELTRAN: This was the most important win for me just because of the level of coverage that the card received. I knew a ton of people were going to be watching to see how Houston responded to his Kimbo performance. So I had it in my mind to crash his comeback party.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Houston was a replacement for your original opponent, is that right? Who was your original opponent, and how much time did Houston have to prepare?
JOEY BELTRAN: My original opponent was going to be Rex Richards. Houston and I found out about 30 days out from the show.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: What were your first thoughts when they offered you Houston Alexander as a replacement – were you excited, and did you know right away that you could beat him?
JOEY BELTRAN: I was extremely excited and I knew that I could definitely out-wrestle him and get a quick stoppage. I just knew that this would be my chance to shine.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: If Houston asked you for one piece of advice on how to improve himself as a fighter what would you say?
JOEY BELTRAN: Develop a solid takedown defense to keep the fight where he is strong.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: What is next for “The Mexicutioner”? Where do you go from here – if you could have it any way where, who, and when would you fight next?
JOEY BELTRAN: I am going to the gym and work to continue to get better. I am looking to fight again soon since I made it out with very little damage. If I could pick one person to fight I would pick Cain Velasquez.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: You seem to have some great wrestling. Did you wrestle in school?
JOEY BELTRAN: I actually did not wrestle in college, grades and some poor decisions after high school kept me out of college altogether for a while actually. But I train with some awesome wrestlers like Phil Davis, Mark Munoz, Brandon Vera, and a bunch of others.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Speaking of wrestling, did you get a chance to see any of the IOWA vs. OKLAHOMA STATE tournament this past weekend?
JOEY BELTRAN: I actually don’t have cable so I watch a lot of dvds.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Where do you train Joey and who helped you prepare for this fight?
JOEY BELTRAN: I train all over San Diego county. I do my MMA training at Alliance MMA in Chula Vista, Calif., with head trainer Eric Delfiero. I work my stand up with Kru Ruben Powell at Extreme Power in Oceanside, Calif., and train jiu jitsu and wrestling with Juan Mora and Brian Whitaker at Blackline Training Center.
WWW.PROMMA.INFO: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us Joey. Is there any sponsors you would like to thank or do you have any shout-outs?
JOEY BELTRAN: I would just like to give a shout out to my all my students and friends at Pilot Built MMA in Oceanside, Calif.
By: Jack Bratcher
Lookin forward to “The Mexicutioner” coming back this weekend. Dude is on a roll and destroyed the debut of a Gracie in the UFC.
My husband loves Joe Beltran. Good luck to him at UFC 113.