UFC on Fuel TV 6 Preview

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Bantamweights

Alex Caceres (7-5, 2-3 UFC) vs. Motonobu Tezuka (19-4-4, 0-0 UFC)

The Matchup: Caceres, a cast member on Season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” looked badly overmatched in featherweight losses to Mackens Semerzier and Jim Hettes to begin his UFC career. “Bruce Leroy” has been much more competitive since dropping to 135 pounds, however, besting Cole Escovedo and Damacio Page while dropping a split verdict to Edwin Figueroa that could have easily gone his way were it not for a two-point deduction for groin strikes.

The 24-year-old Floridian does not have knockout power, but flashy and technical striking from a southpaw stance allows him to keep opponents guessing. Caceres is not especially powerful, either, but he compensates for this deficiency with an active guard. When Page got too careless with his ground-and-pound attack this past June, Caceres was able to capitalize with a triangle-choke finish in round two.

A longtime veteran of Pancrase, Tezuka is stepping in on short notice for Kyung Ho Kang, who withdrew from the contest due to a foot injury. The 25-year-old native of Nagano, Japan, has gone the distance in 13 of his 19 career victories, and has lost just once in 15 bouts since 2009.

Tezuka lacks the versatile standup arsenal of Caceres. Instead, he uses one-two combinations and the occasional leg kick to set up his shot (Tezuka has one TKO to his credit, and that was the result of a doctor stoppage). The Japanese fighter looks to consistently advance position on the ground, and he is fairly aggressive in transitioning from one submission attempt to another. The downside of this is that Tezuka is prone to surrendering position as well.

Tezuka will not want to stand with Caceres for any significant period of time. He does not disguise his takedowns very well, however, and he could experience some difficulty getting inside on the rangy American.

The Pick: If and when these two go to the canvas, the results could be very entertaining as both are active but also tend to find themselves in bad positions. Caceres appears to have matured since his days on “TUF,” and he will get the win by late submission or decision.

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