Video: Former UFC fighter get adrenaline shot, batters dummy

Former UFC fan favourite Houston Alexander once took part in a bizarre experiment for the TV show Sport Science. That show only ran for…

By: Tim Bissell | 2 years ago
Video: Former UFC fighter get adrenaline shot, batters dummy
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Former UFC fan favourite Houston Alexander once took part in a bizarre experiment for the TV show Sport Science. That show only ran for three seasons before being cancelled, but Alexander’s appearance on the show is now doing the rounds on TikTok.

The viral clip shows Alexander, who appeared on the show during his first run in the UFC, getting an injection of adrenaline and then hitting a dummy as hard as he can.

The narrator on the video claims that Alexander got shot up with .6 milligrams of adrenaline (also known as epinephrine), which is supposedly the amount an ER doctor gives a patient to bring them out of cardiac arrest.

You can check out the video below. Though, if you’re squeamish about needles look away at the 1:12 mark.

The narrator claims that, after the shot, Alexander’s heart rate “skyrockets” to 155 beats per minute. The doctor administering the shot adds “heart rate response has increased, epinephrine response is present.”

After he receives the shot Alexander is asked how he feels. His chilling response is: “I feel it run into my veins.”

Alexander then attacks a dummy which has sensors attached to measure the force of his punches. The results show that Alexander generated 900 lbs of force during the test.

Surprisingly this was 100 lbs less than the force expended in a separate test without the adrenaline shot. For that test Alexander attempted to generate his own organic adrenaline, produced via psyching himself up with the help of a coach who railed on him about a past loss in the cage.

Alexander stormed onto the UFC scene in 2007 with a sensational upset victory over Keith Jardine at UFC 71. He followed that 48-second KO up with a TKO over Alessio Sakara.

Those wins made Alexander a must-watch attraction in the Spike TV era of MMA. However, the excitement over Alexander ebbed away thanks to three straight losses in the Octagon—including an eight-second KO to James Irvin.

Alexander’s last UFC bout was a bizarre catchweight fight against Kimbo Slice in the TUF: Heavyweights finale in 2009. The bout is remembered more for both Slice and Alexander completely gassing out than Slice taking the unanimous decision victory.

Since then Alexander has fought for multiple promotions. In 2013 he debuted for Bellator. He went on to appear five times in that promotion. His last MMA fight was in 2017 with the Primus FC promotion.

In 2021 he made his bare knuckle debut. At BKFC 21 he beat Wes Combs with a brutal first round KO.

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About the author
Tim Bissell
Tim Bissell

Tim Bissell is a writer, editor and deputy site manager for Bloody Elbow. He has covered combat sports since 2015. Tim covers news and events and has also written longform and investigative pieces. Among Tim's specialties are the intersections between crime and combat sports. Tim has also covered head trauma, concussions and CTE in great detail.

Tim is also BE's lead (only) sumo reporter. He blogs about that sport here and on his own substack, Sumo Stomp!

Email me at tim@bloodyelbow.com. Nice messages will get a response.

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