Preview: UFC Fight Night 92 – Rodriguez vs. Caceres

This Saturday night the UFC hosts another fight night event to feed your lust for violence (before their next PPV).

Luckily for you, the main event of this fight features a very violent man: one Mr Yair Rodriguez. The man tasked with stopping Rodriguez’s hype train is Alex Caceres, who’s prone to a little violence himself. Rodriguez comes into this fight fresh off a highlight reel jumping headkick KO of Andre Fili, which unsurprisingly made a lot of fans and media suddenly take an interest in the TUF: Latin America winner. Rodriguez has one of the most diverse striking styles you’re likely to see in the UFC at this moment in time. His unpredictability and unorthodox striking has kept his opponents guessing thus far in his career, but he also holds an underrated grappling game that allows him to keep the fight standing or, at the very least, get back to his feet when he’s taken down. Rodriguez has a ton of hype riding behind him coming in the this fight but Alex Caceres is no walkover and is coming in to this fight fresh off a win over a very tough Cole Miller. Caceres has his own unorthodox style of fighting which is what makes this match up particularly exciting. Caceres is a very well rounded fighter and has form for derailing hype trains, Sergio Pettis anyone? However despite being a tough fighter, it’s hard to see Caceres beating Rodriguez unless he somehow manages to hold Rodriguez down and grind out a win because if this fight stays standing, this is Rodriguez’s fight to lose.

The co-main event features the definition of ‘wily veteran’ in Dennis Bermudez who takes on Rony Jason in a featherweight bout. Both of these fighters are entering this fight after a recent run of patchy form, with Bermudez going 1-2 in his last three, and Jason going 1-1-1 in his last three and coming back from a suspension for a banned substance. Safe to say that any fight featuring Dennis Bermudez is (usually) exciting and this promises to be exactly that. Bermudez is one of the slickest grapplers at 145lbs and knows how to grind down opponents to get the win he needs, all the while threatening submissions and putting a whooping on them. Jason is no stranger to fighting on the canvas and would probably prefer the fight to play out there, as he has a dangerous submission game. Unfortunately for him, I don’t see Bermudez being submitted easily nor being taken to the canvas – unless it’s by his own choosing, of course. If Jason can’t get the fight to the canvas, I struggle to see him beating Bermudez and with that in mind, I anticipate Bermudez will take the decision win.

When Thales Leites faces Chris Camozzi this Saturday, he’ll be fighting to stay in the UFC for the second time in his career. Leites enters the fight on the back of two losses, to the current middleweight champion, Michael Bisping and top ten middleweight, Gegard Mousasi. Whilst prior to this he’d won five straight, Leites is struggling with the step up in competition in the middleweight division, which is packed full of mid-level fighters and very few elite level athletes. Unfortunately for Leites, his opponent’s style of fighting won’t make things easy for him on Saturday night. Chris Camozzi, it’s safe to say, will never be an elite middleweight fighter, however he is a capable gatekeeper and is a good litmus test for fighters looking to push on at 185lbs. Camozzi’s style of grinding out decision wins, mixed in with a KO or two, makes him a difficult opponent and Leites may struggle to find his groove against the smothering style of Camozzi. If Leites is going to win this fight, he needs to go back to his Jiu Jitsu roots and submit Camozzi, who’s been prone to being submitted in previous fights.

Santiago Ponzinibbio is probably the hardest hitting welterweight, outside of the top ten, in the UFC. He possess serious power in his hands and thus far in his career, it’s been his go to method of winning fights. The man charged with stopping the freight train hands of Ponzinibbio? Enter Mr Zak Cummings, a man who’s never been defeated by knockout in his professional career thus far. Cummings is coming in to this fight after going 6-1 in his last seven fights, with his only loss in that run being to the one and only, Gunnar Nelson. Cummings is a very well rounded fighter and is more than capable of submitting his opponents or flatlining them with one punch. When you compare their respective skill sets and the durability of Cummings, this should make for a very interesting and intriguing fight which should provide plenty of fireworks but a fire fight between these two arguably favours Ponzinibbio, despite Cummings previously mentioned durability and it’s hard to see this fight going the full three rounds.

Veteran Trevor Smith meets UFC newcomer and middleweight prospect, Joseph Gigliotti in a tough debut fight for the former RFA fighter. Smith has had a tough run since signing for the UFC and hasn’t been able to string two wins together since 2011 back in his Strikeforce days and with over a year away from the cage since his win over Dan Miller, an undefeated prospect making his debut on the big show is probably an ideal fight to return too after a hiatus. Gigliotti is a 23 year old undefeated fighter who comes in to this fight with a 7-0 record, all of which have come via either KO or submission so possesses some serious skills. Gigliotti could make a real name for himself as one to watch should he finish Smith early in this fight and considering Smith won his last fight in the UFC, if his previous form is anything to go by, he loses this fight and probably in devastating fashion.

The opening fight of the main card is Maryna Moroz vs. a debuting Danielle Taylor in a women’s strawweight fight. Moroz is  2-1 in her UFC career thus far and is a tough fighter with a slick submission game and one of the tougher strawweights to debut against. Taylor is no stranger to submissions herself, however is more known for her hard hitting striking skills which makes this fight an intriguing style match up and the takedowns/takedown defence of both fighters will be key. Look for Moroz to get the win though after a tough back and forth fight.

Fights to watch on the undercard; Teruto Ishihara vs. Horacio Gutiérrez and Cub Swanson vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri.