Preview: UFC Fight Night 122 ‘Bisping vs. Gastelum’

Featherweight

Alex Caceres (13-10, 1 NC).vs. Guan Wang (16-1-1)

ODDS: Caceres (-150), Wang (+130)

ANALYSIS: For better or for worse, Caceres has been earmarked for this particular matchup against a coveted Chinese prospect. It may say much for “Bruce Leeroy’s” generally appealing, fan-friendly fight style but not much for how he is regarded in terms of UFC matchmaking. Caceres got an easy workout in his second-round stoppage of late replacement Rolando Dy at UFC Fight Night 111 in June, yet he was supposed to face Wang. It speaks considerably that the fight was remade wholesale in the weeks to come.

Caceres remains a smart gatekeeper to the stars for the UFC, as he continues to refine his game under John Crouch at the MMA Lab in Arizona. However, he maintains a lot of the wild, whimsical striking and scrambling with which he is associated. That is all the better for the 31-year-old Wang, a Xian Sports University rep with a deep striking background and an eagerness to impart its efficacy.

Wang, like nearly all of the Chinese competitors on this card, has flagged when he has faced legitimate world-class opposition; his only top-notch foe has been World Series of Fighting vet Bekbulat Magomedov, who keenly wrestled the Chinese striker to the ground for 15 minutes. Caceres is not a dynamite wrestler, but given the style pairing and under Crouch’s tutelage, he may be primed to tackle the Chinese fighter to the mat upon striking exchanges and look to flaunt his supposed grappling advantage. Wang has yet to show much in terms of a formidable grappling game, and “Bruce Leeroy” excels in exactly the sort of scrambles that could spell the end of the Chinese fighter.

Caceres tends to be the author of his own misfortune, standing up for long periods of time against predatory strikers that can rock him, hurt him and exploit him. However, Wang’s best attacks remain punch rushes behind salvos of kicks, which Caceres seems likely to abate with his own, more disciplined kick-based attack. If Caceres does not keep Wang on the outside with his kicking offense, the southpaw American can still negotiate his way in the clinch, scramble to his feet if surprisingly swept and generate enough offence to take a competitive decision against the well-equipped Chinese fighter. “Bruce Leeroy” wins on points in a squeaker.

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