Preview: UFC Fight Night 196 ‘Costa vs. Vettori’

Featherweights

NR | Seung Woo Choi (10-3, 3-2 UFC) vs. NR | Alex Caceres (18-12, 13-10 UFC)

ODDS: Choi (-280), Caceres (+240)

It feels a bit odd to say this about someone who has spent over a decade on the UFC roster, but it is a bit hard to tell where Caceres is at these days. The UFC saw something in Caceres coming off Season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter”—whether it was his talent or natural charisma owing to his “Bruce Leeroy” persona—and stuck with him through a rough stretch to start his Octagon career. Caceres eventually rounded into a solid veteran, but save for a five-fight undefeated streak from 2012 to 2014, he has never quite built much momentum at any point. Caceres has traditionally been flowy to a fault, often allowing his opponent to dictate the pace and terms of the fight and going along with whatever has been presented to him. Caceres has enough talent and experience that he can hold his own in most areas, but it has made his fights more difficult than they need to be, particularly against specialized fighters who can dominate him in one phase of the game. After a 2019 loss to Kron Gracie, Caceres has gone on a four-fight winning streak—the longest of his UFC career—but it is difficult to say if he has truly turned a corner or just feasted on a relatively weak slate of opposition. He has definitely improved his focus in some areas—an earlier version of Caceres may have had more trouble on the mat against the likes of Chase Hooper and Austin Springer—but his last victory over Kevin Croom was an uninspiring performance where it felt like, once again, he was letting his opponent dictate the terms of the bout. At any rate, this winning streak has probably earned Caceres an important fight no matter what level of competition he has beaten; and the UFC has put him against a tough but relatively unknown prospect in Choi. South Korea’s Choi is a tall pressure fighter whose UFC career got off to a rough start. Movsar Evloev was a ridiculously difficult ask for a UFC debut, and Choi had the misfortune of facing Gavin Tucker just as he unveiled his surprisingly effective wrestling game. However, “Sting” has righted the ship in three fights since, showing off his own clinch and takedown skills against Youssef Zalal before starching Julian Erosa in under two minutes in June. Caceres has been historically durable, so a knockout feels unlikely. As a result, this figures to be an even fight where Caceres will engage enough to let Choi land some good blows. If Caceres does not get knocked out, his wrestling figures to be there as a safety valve, which is enough to give him the edge in another fight that is probably going to be closer than it needs to be. The pick is Caceres via decision.

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