Alex Caceres

Alex Caceres
Born Alex Caceres
June 20, 1988 (1988-06-20) (age 23)
Other names Bruce Leeroy
Nationality American
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 135 lb (61 kg; 9.6 st)
Division Bantamweight
Featherweight
Lightweight
Reach 70.0 in (178 cm)
Style Jeet Kune Do, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Stance Southpaw
Fighting out of Miami, Florida, United States
Team Young Tigers Foundation
Years active 2008-present
Mixed martial arts record
Total 10
Wins 6
By knockout 2
By submission 3
By decision 1
Losses 4
By submission 4
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Alex Caceres (born June 20, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight divisions. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Caceres mostly competed in his regional circuit, before signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championships to appear on The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck.[1]

Contents

Mixed Martial Arts career

Background

Caceres comes from Miami, Florida where he trains at Young Tigers Foundation. Caceres claims to be "inventive and creative" during the fights, often smiling during competition.[1] Caceres also never went the distance in any of his fights prior to joining the TUF cast.[2] Caceres' nickname, "Bruce Leroy" stems from the character in the film The Last Dragon.[3]

Early career

Caceres initially fought in an underground backyard street fighting organization in Miami. Caceres mostly appeared in promotions based in Florida. Amongst these was an appearance for the King of the Cage promotion at "King of the Cage: Hurricane" in February 2009. His opponent in that fight was Eric Kovarik, who was coming off multiple successive losses. In under two minutes, Caceres submitted his opponent with a rear naked choke.

Caceres then won his next fight against Joel Garcia in May 2009 via submission (triangle choke) early in the first round before going on a two-fight losing streak. These two losses were both by armbar, taking his record to 4-2 at that time.

In his final fight before joining The Ultimate Fighter, Caceres defeated Jahmal McLennan via TKO midway through the third round to snap his losing streak.[4]

The Ultimate Fighter

Caceres then signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to appear on The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck.[1]

In the debut episode, Caceres faced Paul Barrow, who was 3-0 going into the show. Caceres, who smiled almost the entire fight, would go to defeat Barrow via submission (rear naked choke) in the first round.[5]

In the second episode, Caceres was picked as GSP's fourth pick (eighth overall). Caceres competed in his preliminary round fight during this episode against Jeff Lentz. Prior to the fight, Lentz's cardio was called into question due to his smoking and drinking. However, Lentz went on to arguably win the first round of the fight against Caceres. Midway through the second round, Caceres locked in a triangle choke, forcing the tapout and advancing him into the quarter-finals.[6]

In episode 8, Team GSP had to pick which team members would fight each other (considering they had 5 members in the quarter-finals). St. Pierre asked each member to pick the fighter they would prefer to fight. Both Caceres and Michael Johnson picked each other and they were scheduled to fight.[7] Johnson defeated Caceres via unanimous decision (20-18, 20-18, 20-18) after two rounds in episode 10.[8]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Caceres made his official UFC debut in March 2011 against Mackens Semerzier at UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis. He lost the fight via submission in the first round.

Caceres was expected to face Leonard Garcia August 14, 2011 at UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle. However, Garcia was forced out of the bout with an injury and replace by promotional newcomer Jim Hettes.[9] Caceres was defeated by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:12 of round 2.[10]

Caceres then dropped to the bantamweight division and faced Cole Escovedo on November 12, 2011 at UFC on Fox 1.[11] Caceres won via unanimous decision in a bout where he showed a vastly improved striking and ground game.

Caceres is expected to face Edwin Figueroa on February 4, 2012 at UFC 143.[12]

Mixed martial arts record

Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 6–4 Cole Escovedo Decision (unanimous) UFC on Fox: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos 02011-11-12 November 12, 2011 3 5:00 Anaheim, California, US Bantamweight Debut
Loss 5–4 Jimy Hettes Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle 02011-08-14 August 14, 2011 2 3:12 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US
Loss 5–3 Mackens Semerzier Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis 02011-03-26 March 26, 2011 1 3:18 Seattle, Washington, US Return to Featherweight
Win 5–2 Ketema Jahmal McLennan TKO (punches) G-Force Fights: Bad Blood 3 02010-02-04 February 4, 2010 3 2:48 Miami, Florida, US
Loss 4–2 Matt McCook Submission (armbar) WFC: Battle of the Bay 8 02009-07-10 July 10, 2009 2 3:56 Tampa, Florida, US
Loss 4–1 Farkhad Sharipov Submission (armbar) Best of the Best 02009-06-12 June 12, 2009 3 3:01 Columbus, Georgia, US
Win 4–0 Joel Garcia Submission (triangle choke) XFN: Da Matta vs. Thorne 02009-05-14 May 14, 2009 1 1:05 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, US
Win 3–0 Eric Kovarik Submission (rear-naked choke) KOTC: Hurricane 02009-02-21 February 21, 2009 1 1:58 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, US
Win 2–0 Tulio Quintanilla TKO (punches) MFA: There Will Be Blood 02008-12-03 December 3, 2008 2 4:14 Miami, Florida, US
Win 1–0 Eric Luke Submission (armbar) G-Force Fights: Bad Blood 1 02008-11-06 November 6, 2008 2 1:45 Miami, Florida, US

References

  1. ^ a b c "Meet the cast for "The Ultimate Fighter 12," field includes 28 lightweights". mmajunkie.com. August 3, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/20146/meet-the-cast-for-the-ultimate-fighter-12-field-includes-28-lightweights.mma. 
  2. ^ "Spike TV unveils TUF 12 cast: Alex Caceres". sherdog.com. August 3, 2010. http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/7/Spike-TV-Unveils-TUF-12-Cast-26089. 
  3. ^ "Alex Caceres kicks". spike.com. August 19, 2010. http://www.spike.com/blog/alex-caceres-kicks/99012. 
  4. ^ "Alex Caceres wins 'Bad Blood 3' MMA battle over Jahmal McLennan". sun-sentinel.com. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-mma-20100203,0,5993357.story. Retrieved September 7, 2010. 
  5. ^ "Episode no.1 recap: "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck"". mmajunkie.com. September 16, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/20660/episode-no-1-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-12-team-gsp-vs-team-koscheck.mma. 
  6. ^ "Episode No. 2 recap: "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck"". mmajunkie.com. September 22, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/20738/episode-no-2-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-12-team-gsp-vs-team-koscheck.mma. 
  7. ^ "Episode No. 8 recap: "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck"". mmajunkie.com. November 4, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/21262/episode-no-8-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-12-team-gsp-vs-team-koscheck.mma. 
  8. ^ "Episode No. 10 recap: "The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck"". mmajunkie.com. November 18, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/21421/episode-no-10-recap-the-ultimate-fighter-12-team-gsp-vs-team-koscheck.mma. 
  9. ^ "Leonard Garcia out, Jim Hettes in against "Bruce Leroy" at UFC on Versus 5". mmajunkie.com. August 2, 2011. http://mmajunkie.com/news/24658/leonard-garcia-out-jim-hettes-in-against-bruce-leroy-at-ufc-on-versus-5.mma. 
  10. ^ "UFC on Versus 5 Play-by-Play: Alex Caceres vs. Jimy Hettes". MMAweekly.com. 2011-08-14. http://mmaweekly.com/ufc-on-versus-5-play-by-play-alex-caceres-vs-jimy-hettes. 
  11. ^ "Alex Caceres drops to bantamweight, fights Cole Escovedo at UFC on FOX 1". mmajunkie.com. October 5, 2011. http://mmajunkie.com/news/25552/alex-caceres-drops-to-bantamweight-fights-cole-escovedo-at-ufc-on-fox-1.mma. 
  12. ^ "Alex Caceres vs. Edwin Figueroa added to UFC 143". mmajunkie.com. 2011-11-17. http://mmajunkie.com/news/26153/alex-caceres-vs-edwin-figueroa-added-to-ufc-143.mma. 

External links