Alex Caceres’ journey to becoming a top ranked UFC featherweight has been long and slow. The former TUF 12 competitor took his first step into the Octagon all the way back in 2011, suffering back-to-back submission losses against Mackens Semerzier and Jimy Hettes before dropping to the bantamweight division.
More than a decade—and a return to featherweight—later has seen Caceres pickingup a lot more wins than losses. His recent decision defeat at the hands of Sodiq Yusuff broke a 5-fight string of victories for the man best known as ‘Bruce Leeroy’. Even on the heels of that latest setback, Caceres’ success has been enough to lockdown the #15 spot in the UFC featherweight rankings. An accolade the 34-year-old will look to defend later this year against fellow long-struggling action fighter Julian Erosa.
That bout was announced by Erosa’s management company, Team Iridium, on social media—and has been targeted for the UFC’s final fight card of 2022. UFC Vegas 66: Cannonier vs. Strickland is set to take place at the Apex Facility on December 17th.
Training out of Xtreme Couture and 10th Planet Las Vegas, Erosa will enter this fight riding his own wave of success. The 33-year-old Yakima-based fighter is currently on his 3rd stint with the world’s largest MMA organization, having compiled a 1-4 Octagon record during his two previous UFC contracts.
Things couldn’t be more different for ‘Jiucy J’ this time around, however—with Erosa currently riding three straight victories, over Charles Jourdain, Steven Peterson, and most recently Hakeem Dawodu back in September. He’s 5-1 overall since re-signing with the promotion in June of 2020.
Alongside the middleweight main event, UFC Vegas 66 is expected to feature bouts between Julian Marquez & Deron Winn, Michal Oleksiejczuk & Albert Duraev, and a bantamweight fight between Said Nurmagomedov and Saidyokub Kakhramonov. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and updates as fight night approaches.
