Alex Karalexis

Alex Karalexis (born September 20, 1977) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Karalexis was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 1, and has also formerly competed for the UFC and WEC.

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. 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 for all four years Whitman-Hanson Regional High School. Karalexis then went attended Massasoit Community College 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 and Brazilian jiu-jitsu before transitioning into mixed martial arts.

The Ultimate Fighter

Karalexis competed on The Ultimate Fighter 1 as a Middleweight, and was the third Middleweight pick on Team Couture. 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 submission in the first round and was eliminated from the show. Karalexis later made a return for the series finale as a Welterweight to defeat Josh Rafferty via TKO in the first round. Karalexis then lost his next two fights in the UFC against Kenny Florian and Jason Von Flue, 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, where he defeated Josh Smith by majority decision.

Karalexis was scheduled to face WEC newcomer Kamal Shalorus on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44., 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, but Micklewright was forced off the card with an injury. Karalexis instead faced Anthony Pettis, losing via submission.

Karalexis was expected to face WEC newcomer Zhang Tie Quan on September 30, 2010 at WEC 51. However, Karalexis was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Jason Reinhardt. 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, having lost 3 of his last 4 WEC fights. He would return to action on June 10, 2011 in a Welterweight 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.

Karalexis is close friends with NFL star Jared Allen, who also trained with Karalexis and cornered his fight at WEC 48 against Anthony Pettis.