Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to FOX Sports 1 for a thrilling mixed martial arts (MMA) event yesterday (Sat., Aug. 6, 2016) in Salt Lake City, Utah as UFC Fight Night 92 gave fight fans — who packed into the Vivent Smart Home Arena– a wild night of action.
In the main event of the evening, Yair Rodriguez continued to rise up the Featherweight division by putting on a stellar performance against Alex Caceres (see it again here).
In main card action, Thales Leites dominated Chris Camozzi to eventually score a third-round submission win (recap here).
Biggest Winner: Thales Leites
Going into his fight against Camozzi, Thales had dropped two straight. Though it was against top notch competition in Gegard Mousasi and Michael Bisping, it wouldn’t have made a difference to his employers had he dropped his third straight when it came to decide whether or not they wanted to retain his services once the dust settled.
Thankfully, the former Middleweight title challenger will live to fight another day, as his victory over Chris was huge for Octagon career moving forward.
Runner Up: Yair Rodriguez
Going into his headlining bout against Alex Caceres, Rodriguez was the betting favorite and many expected him to flat out steamroll “Bruce Leeroy.” But, Alex proved to be a tough draw, taking “El Pantera” to the distance; almost stealing the fight.
After a fast-paced first two rounds that saw both men throw a lot — I mean A LOT — of “spinning shit,” it seemed Alex was the one who has the better gas tank. Rodriguez, though, still maintained a better pace in the championship rounds to steal the fifth and final round.
With another big win in his pocket, Rodriguez can expect bigger and tougher challenges moving forward.
Biggest Loser: Tatsuya Kawajiri
While he showed plenty of heart in his bout against longtime veteran Cub Swanson, taking him the distance in a hard-fought battle, “Crusher” has now dropped two straight and three of his last five. It’s a disappointing run for the Japanese import many felt could have made a run at the division title when he made his Octagon debut back in 2014.
For complete UFC Fight Night 92: “Rodriguez vs. Caceres” results, including real-time play-by-play updates, click here.