Alex Caceres and Cole Escovedo were both coming off of two straight losses heading into their UFC on Fox 1 bout at bantamweight.
It was Caceres’ first fight at bantamweight, and after his two previous losses to Mackens Semerzier and Jim Hettes, Caceres’ potential as a fighter seemed all but finished.
This fight, though, the potential seen of Caceres when he competed as a lightweight on The Ultimate Fighter 12 came back and helped him pull out a unanimous decision victory over the former WEC 145 pound champion, Escovedo.
From start to finish, Caceres dominated Escovedo both in the striking department and on the ground. Even from the bottom, Caceres fought for submissions against Escovedo.
With triangles and armbars, Caceres at one point seemed close to securing an omoplata. He fought and fought for each submission, but the experience of Escovedo on the ground got him out of each position.
Escovedo was even able to fight off a securely locked armbar from Caceres, but was unable to make any sort of progress.
Now with three straight losses, Escovedo could be facing the axe from the UFC. But with his losses coming to Renan Barao and Takeya Mizugaki—both either top 10 or borderline top 10 bantamweights—and now Caceres, it could be possible to see him one last time.
For Caceres, this is a huge win in his young career and looked good in his debut at bantamweight. Every part of his game looks much improved and could find success at his new home.
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