Preview: UFC Fight Night 203 ‘Santos vs. Ankalaev’

Featherweights

#12 | Sodiq Yusuff (11-2) vs. #15 | Alex Caceres (19-12, 1 N/C)
Odds: Yusuff (-250), Caceres (+200)

Now entering his 12th year on the UFC roster, Alex Caceres remains a baffling fighter, even as he's putting together the longest winning streak of his career. The UFC stuck with Caceres through a rough start of his run with the promotion, and "Bruce Leeroy" eventually paid off their faith, turning into a well-rounded fighter among the most charismatic and entertaining on the roster. The issue was turning that into consistent success, as while Caceres could hold his own anywhere, he never particularly dictated the terms of his fights, choosing to meet opponents on their own terms and living with the results. That led to some promising flashes at points, but Caceres had essentially been written off as an inconsistent action fighter by 2019, at which point he started his current five-fight winning streak. Part of Caceres's current success has been the UFC's matchmaking, as he's been in a position to overwhelm and overmatch some raw prospects and lower-level veterans. But his grappling does seem to be clicking above its previous level, even if getting there is an adventure; Caceres was fighting what was clearly a losing fight against Seung Woo Choi in October until he suddenly turned things around for a submission win. At this point, Caceres has earned a step up to a ranked opponent, and Sodiq Yusuff is here to serve that role. This is hopefully a return back to an active schedule for Yusuff, who marked himself as a potential title contender in a little over a year on the UFC roster; Yusuff showed a powerful and consistent striking game that overwhelmed his opponents, racking up four wins in fourteen months to set him up for bigger things. But Yusuff has only fought once in the two-plus years since, a loss last April to Arnold Allen; it wasn't a bad performance from Yusuff by any means, but did raise some worry about his ability to eke out a win against a fellow powerful athlete that could also mix things up with some wrestling. Caceres has, for all his flaws, been nearly impossible to knock out over the course of his long career, which lends some intrigue to this fight - by the third round, Caceres figures to be the fresher fighter and might be able to make some things happen with his grappling. But there's a huge power gap here, and Yusuff should spend most of the early going of the fight connecting with some hard shots, enough so that it wouldn't be a shock if Caceres suffers his second-ever knockout loss before he even gets a chance to turn things around. The pick is Yusuff via decision.

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