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411’s MMA Roundtable Preview – UFC Fight Night 92: Rodriguez vs. Caceres
WELCOME:
Yair Rodriguez is looking to continue his ascent up the featherweight rankings as he takes on Alex Caceres to main event the UFC’s debut in Utah! In the co-main event Dennis Bermudez and Rony Jason are trying to claw their way up the rankings at featherweight as well. At middleweight Thales Leites tries to right his career against a streaking Chris Camozzi, plus at welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio meets hard nosed wrestler Zak Cummings and more!
THE STAFF:
Preliminary Card:
First two prelims on Fight Pass, rest on Fox Sports 1.
Heavyweight Bout: Chase Sherman vs. Justin Ledet
Featherweight Bout: Cub Swanson vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Featherweight Bout: Teruto Ishihara vs. Horacia Gutierrez
Lightweight Bout: David Teymur vs. Jason Novelli
Heavyweight Bout: Viktor Pesta vs. Marcin Tybura
Welterweight Bout: Court McGee vs. Dominique Steele
THE MAIN CARD:
Strawweight Bout: Maryna Moroz vs. Danielle Taylor
Jeffrey Harris: Maryna Moroz, TKO, Round 1
Robert Winfree: Maryna Moroz, Submission, Round 2
The 411 staff calls it for Maryna Moroz 2-0.
Middleweight Bout: Trevor Smith vs. Joe Gigliotti
Jeffrey Harris: Trevor Smith, TKO, Round 1
Robert Winfree: Trevor Smith, Decision
The 411 staff calls it for Trevor Smith 2-0.
Welterweight Bout: Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Zak Cummings
Jeffrey Harris: Zak Cummings is actually a tough and underrated fighter. His UFC record is 4-1. He faces Santiago Ponzinibbio, who has also won his last two fights in the Octagon. This is a decent match-up, but I see Zak Cummings edging it out. This is a fight where we can see some good potential fireworks.
Winner: Zak Cummings, Decision
Robert Winfree: This card doesn’t have a single relevant fight, so instead the UFC stacked it with fights that are designed to be wild brawls featuring knockouts. If this fight goes according to that plan then Cummings will walk into a couple of power punches from Ponzinibbio and fall down. Now that’s a perfectly viable possibility, unfortunately so is Cummings punching his way in close and then grinding out a decision win with his wrestling. Ponzinibbio has been improving recently but hasn’t fought a dedicated wrestler since he lost to Ryan LaFlare, now Cummings isn’t nearly the grappler that LaFlare is but it’s still something of a question mark in Ponzinibbio’s game. This feels like it could go either way and in matches like that I tend to favor the wrestlers as a general rule.
Winner: Zak Cummings, Decision
The 411 staff calls it for Zak Cummings 2-0.
Middleweight Bout: Thales Leites vs. Chris Camozzi
Jeffrey Harris: I will give credit to Chris Camozzi. He’s sort of been a journeyman throughout his career, but he’s earned his spot on the roster since he was basically just brought back to the UFC on incredibly short notice to lose to Jacare. In addition, he’s won his last three fights and had a dominant win over a good middleweight prospect in Vitor Miranda. Leites is ranked No. 12 in the division, so this is a pretty sizable opportunity for Camozzi. However, I’m picking Leites to win here. Leites has had some tough losses, but this very much looks like a match-up where he can dominate and win the fight, especially with his BJJ game.
Winner: Thales Leites, Submission, Round 2
Robert Winfree: Thales Leites used to be on a pretty good winning streak, then he lost a very close split decision to Michael Bisping and followed that up by getting completely dominated by Gegard Mousasi. Chris Camozzi has a decent streak going right now, but Leites is his first step up in competition since he returned and got run over by Jacare. Camozzi is a pretty good overall fighter, though he prefers striking specifically with elbows and knees in the clinch and if he’s got a weakness to his game it’s his grappling. That’s not good for Camozzi as Leites is a very good grappler who’s shown to have improved his striking game over the last couple of years. If Leites fights smart he’ll get a takedown and his superior jiu-jitsu should lead to Camozzi tapping out.
Winner: Thales Leites, Submission, Round 2
The 411 staff calls it for Thales Leites 2-0.
Featherweight Bout: Dennis Bermudez vs. Rony Jason
Jeffrey Harris: Dennis Bermudez actually went on a pretty amazing winning streak at featherweight once, winning seven fights in a row. He lost a couple fights, but now he’s on the rebound with a win over Tatsuya Kawajiri fight. I’m favoring Bermudez all the way here. Jason is a decent fighter, but Bermudez will be too well rounded for him. Plus, Bermudez’s wrestling will be too much for Jason to handle.
Winner: Dennis Bermudez, Decision
Robert Winfree: Dennis Bermudez had a pretty good winning streak going at one point before dropping back to back fights to Ricardo Lamas and Jeremy Stephens, he’s a solid puncher and wrestler though at 29 we’ve likely seen his ceiling at this point. Rony Jason is a pretty wild fighter but he’s suffering from the inconsistencies that come with that, his last win got overturned when he tested positive for a banned diuretic so he’s technically without a win since March of 2014 when he beat Steven Siler. Jason has a bad habit of conceding being on bottom and trying to work his jiu-jitsu game, and while that works against lower level opposition a wrestler and fighter the caliber of Bermudez is unlikely to get caught in a flying triangle choke while working from the clinch. This just seems like a match where the dependable and fundamentally sound fighter should overcome a wild opponent.
Winner: Dennis Bermudez, Decision
The 411 staff calls it for Dennis Bermudez 2-0.
Featherweight Bout: Yair Rodriguez vs. Alex Caceres
Jeffrey Harris: This isn’t a big and important fight for featherweight, but it is a fun fight for the division. Both fighters are entertaining and fun to watch with unorthodox styles. Credit to Alex Caceres. He’s not a world beater, but he has earned his spot in the UFC. Good for him, considering he was once labeled the worst fighter on the planet. He had a strong performance in his last outing, completely dominating and out-grappling Cole Miller. Yair Rodriguez had a really breakout performance in his last fight, beating Andre Fili in a great performance and using some fun insane strikes Rodriguez is a crazy striker. But somehow, his fast and dynamic style is something he’s made work for him in the UFC. He probably has an edge there. But Caceres I think probably has an edge with his grappling abilities and his length. A decision won’t surprise me here, but I’m predicting Caceres to edge this out.
Winner: Alex Caceres, Decision
Robert Winfree: This isn’t a terribly relevant main event, but Yair Rodriguez is a wild man of a fighter who the UFC is pretty high on, and really Rodriguez will only run into trouble when he’s in there with a fundamentally sound and experienced fighter who wont flinch from his crazy attacks and will drag Rodriguez into a gritty, ugly, bloody fight where he can’t use unorthodox techniques. Alex Caceres isn’t that style of fighter, he’s a little wild himself and tends to try and use counter striking along with some pretty solid clinch work, though his overall grappling is still a work in progress. This is a fight designed to let Rodriguez shine, Caceres wont challenge his wildness with fundamentals but with his own brand of creative striking and trying to engage Rodriguez on those terms isn’t a recipe for success.
Winner: Yair Rodriguez, TKO, Round 2
The 411 staff calls it a draw 1-1.
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