bobdina
05-11-2010, 10:39 AM
Fighter’s Marine record exaggerated
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Monday May 10, 2010 16:47:18 EDT
A popular mixed martial arts fighter has admitted he looked the other way after multiple media outlets published false information about his military background.
Kenneth Alexander, a former Marine staff sergeant who is known in the MMA world as “The Machine,” told Marine Corps Times before his Friday bout at Camp Pendleton, Calif., that he had no affiliation with Special Forces and never put boots on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan or Somalia, as reported by various media outlets since at least 2008.
Alexander, who worked as an intelligence specialist while in the Corps, left the service in 2004 having completed one deployment each to Kuwait and Kyrgyzstan, he said. Claims that he was a sniper also are false, Alexander said.
“I played around with a Barrett a couple of times,” he added, referring to the .50 caliber sniper rifle.
Alexander blames reckless journalism for the proliferation of mistakes about his wartime experience. However, a televised interview broadcast before his fight at Camp Pendleton suggests he shares some of the blame.
“I was a recon sniper,” Alexander told an off-camera reporter for ABC News 10 in Sacramento, Calif. “Basically, my job was to go in and go undetected, report to higher ups whatever it was that needed to be reported, and if we got the ‘green light,’ then we’re pulling triggers.”
A Marine who attended the Corps’ intelligence school with Alexander in 1997 and later worked with him in an F/A-18 Hornet squadron at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., alerted Marine Corps Times to the discrepancies. He noted a 2008 article, written for World Extreme Cagefighting, in which Alexander is quoted as saying he was with Special Forces and that he had two rotations each to Iraq and Afghanistan.
A year later, in a question-and-answer-style interview published by Vincit Magazine, Alexander is described as a sniper and Special Forces volunteer with a tour in Somalia, two tours in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan. He is quoted in that article acknowledging “five tours with the Marines.”
In the TV interview, Alexander claims to have trained Special Forces in hand-to-hand combat, though he didn’t say whether they were U.S. troops or members of a foreign military. A brief profile of him on the website for Ultimate Fitness, a gym led by world renowned fighter Urijah Faber, states that Alexander, a trainer at the Sacramento facility, draws from his “experiences in the Marine Special Forces.”
When asked by Marine Corps Times about his statements claiming to be a sniper and having a relationship with Special Forces, Alexander said he does not to know how that information surfaced. He surmised that his brief attachment to a division headquarters intelligence section could have prompted some confusion.
Alexander, who lost to Greg McIntyre by technical knockout in the second round of Friday’s fight at Camp Pendleton, has a respectable professional record, and he has fought on some of the biggest stages, including Rage in the Cage and the WEC, a sister company to the UFC. He said he is unfazed by the scrutiny.
“I could care less about them talking about my past. In the fight game, people talk about what they want to talk about and you could tell them the truth ’til you’re blue in the face, but half of them hear what they want to hear anyway,” he said, adding that he never bothered to “waste my time” trying to set the record straight.
“I know what I did,” he said. “Those who knew me know what I did, and no one else matters.”
Al Joslin, a pro-military promoter who staged the free event at Camp Pendleton, said Alexander deserves the benefit of the doubt.
“He’s a Marine that I’ve had honorable dealings with in the past,” said Joslin, who addressed the allegations with Alexander and decided to let him stay on the card.
“I would not appreciate it if he was lying about his record to me or other Marines, but I don’t know that it’s the situation because it’s not completely proven yet,” he said.
Joslin’s focus, he said, was showing his appreciation to the Marines.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/05/marine_alexander_post_050710/
By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Monday May 10, 2010 16:47:18 EDT
A popular mixed martial arts fighter has admitted he looked the other way after multiple media outlets published false information about his military background.
Kenneth Alexander, a former Marine staff sergeant who is known in the MMA world as “The Machine,” told Marine Corps Times before his Friday bout at Camp Pendleton, Calif., that he had no affiliation with Special Forces and never put boots on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan or Somalia, as reported by various media outlets since at least 2008.
Alexander, who worked as an intelligence specialist while in the Corps, left the service in 2004 having completed one deployment each to Kuwait and Kyrgyzstan, he said. Claims that he was a sniper also are false, Alexander said.
“I played around with a Barrett a couple of times,” he added, referring to the .50 caliber sniper rifle.
Alexander blames reckless journalism for the proliferation of mistakes about his wartime experience. However, a televised interview broadcast before his fight at Camp Pendleton suggests he shares some of the blame.
“I was a recon sniper,” Alexander told an off-camera reporter for ABC News 10 in Sacramento, Calif. “Basically, my job was to go in and go undetected, report to higher ups whatever it was that needed to be reported, and if we got the ‘green light,’ then we’re pulling triggers.”
A Marine who attended the Corps’ intelligence school with Alexander in 1997 and later worked with him in an F/A-18 Hornet squadron at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., alerted Marine Corps Times to the discrepancies. He noted a 2008 article, written for World Extreme Cagefighting, in which Alexander is quoted as saying he was with Special Forces and that he had two rotations each to Iraq and Afghanistan.
A year later, in a question-and-answer-style interview published by Vincit Magazine, Alexander is described as a sniper and Special Forces volunteer with a tour in Somalia, two tours in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan. He is quoted in that article acknowledging “five tours with the Marines.”
In the TV interview, Alexander claims to have trained Special Forces in hand-to-hand combat, though he didn’t say whether they were U.S. troops or members of a foreign military. A brief profile of him on the website for Ultimate Fitness, a gym led by world renowned fighter Urijah Faber, states that Alexander, a trainer at the Sacramento facility, draws from his “experiences in the Marine Special Forces.”
When asked by Marine Corps Times about his statements claiming to be a sniper and having a relationship with Special Forces, Alexander said he does not to know how that information surfaced. He surmised that his brief attachment to a division headquarters intelligence section could have prompted some confusion.
Alexander, who lost to Greg McIntyre by technical knockout in the second round of Friday’s fight at Camp Pendleton, has a respectable professional record, and he has fought on some of the biggest stages, including Rage in the Cage and the WEC, a sister company to the UFC. He said he is unfazed by the scrutiny.
“I could care less about them talking about my past. In the fight game, people talk about what they want to talk about and you could tell them the truth ’til you’re blue in the face, but half of them hear what they want to hear anyway,” he said, adding that he never bothered to “waste my time” trying to set the record straight.
“I know what I did,” he said. “Those who knew me know what I did, and no one else matters.”
Al Joslin, a pro-military promoter who staged the free event at Camp Pendleton, said Alexander deserves the benefit of the doubt.
“He’s a Marine that I’ve had honorable dealings with in the past,” said Joslin, who addressed the allegations with Alexander and decided to let him stay on the card.
“I would not appreciate it if he was lying about his record to me or other Marines, but I don’t know that it’s the situation because it’s not completely proven yet,” he said.
Joslin’s focus, he said, was showing his appreciation to the Marines.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/05/marine_alexander_post_050710/