UFC Fight Night 92: Yair Rodriguez vs Alex Caceres has all the ingredients to headline electric card in Salt Lake City
UFC welterweight and commentator Dan Hardy looks ahead to this weekend's contest between exciting featherweights Yair Rodriguez and Alex Caceres in Salt Lake City
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Your support makes all the difference.A reshuffling of contender rankings will be required after this weekend’s event is in the books. The beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah, will be the host of UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs Caceres, and it will be the Octagon’s first visit to this picturesque state. The headlining fight will see rising featherweight prospects, Yair Rodriguez and Alex Caceres, look to keep their winning momentum going with a victory over one another. These two promising young hopefuls will undoubtedly make for a very entertaining main event.
Alex Caceres came onto the radar of UFC fans with his stint on season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter, winning his first two bouts by rear naked choke and triangle, respectively. He became an important cast member on the season and immediately became a fan favourite due to his flamboyant style and personality. Some fighters are able to compete with swagger and even in defeat, Caceres seems cool enough to brush it off and move on.
His risk-taking style has peppered his record with a mixture of success and defeat, but in his last two fights he has returned to featherweight, and is two fights into a winning streak. In his last bout in particular he showed a much more mature game, beating the crafty Cole Miller by decision at UFC 199: Rockhold vs Bisping 2. Being a tall, lean southpaw, with an unpredictable style, any opponent struggles to settle into the fight early on. With him also working out of the MMA Lab, with the mastermind coach, John Crouch, his skill set can take a leap forward between bouts.
His opponent, Yair Rodriguez, has enjoyed much more consistency in his UFC career. Now going into his fifth bout with the organisation, he has yet to experience defeat in the Octagon. With a third of the number of UFC fights as Caceres has, it’s clear who has the advantage in experience, but Rodriguez is a kid that just seems to make good decisions for himself. He always comes well-prepared and his striking game is on point. Having a background in Taekwondo, it won’t just be Caceres throwing the crazy kicks
Rodriguez demonstrated the real danger of that unpredictable striking game, by dropping Andre Fili at UFC 197 with a switch head kick that he never saw coming, earning the ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus as a result. Much like Alex Caceres, his 5’11” frame is tough to deal with for most featherweights. Couple that with fast, long-range techniques and you have a formidable opponent. He is also working extensively with world class grappling coach Ricky Lundell. That shows he is aware of the need for a close quarters game, even if he prefers to contend at range.
I am fascinated to see how these two match up, especially with them both enjoying success with wild spinning and flying techniques. This could turn out like a fight scene from a martial arts movie. Both athletes have a wide range of skills and the confidence to try them in high pressure situations, such as a main event spot. All the way down the card there are important match-ups and the featured bout on the prelims is probably my second most anticipated fight on the card.
Featherweights Cub Swanson and Tatsuya Kawajiri will stir the energy inside the arena, as both of these very experienced fighters take to the Octagon. Kawajiri, a veteran of the Japanese scene, has a strong wrestling game with a wide selection of submissions he can chase. Swanson on the other hand, has good takedown defence and ‘home run’ power in both hands. Kawajiri crashes forward and Swanson shoots from the hip. It’s just one of the many great bouts on this fight card, coming to you live, from Salt Lake City this weekend.
Watch UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs Caceres live on BT Sport 2 from 1am BST on Sunday, August 7th or catch the Early Prelims from 12am BST on UFC Fight Pass.
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