Undefeated bantamweight prospect Sergio Pettis will face another tough test in his second UFC match against Alex Caceres at UFC on Fox 10 in just over a month’s time.
The younger brother of UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis made an impressive Octagon debut with a UD win over veteran slugger Will Campuzano, showing that he is one to watch for the future. With such a famous, popular and skilled relative, he is likely to receive a hell of a lot of hype too. Better yet, fans are getting to see a lot of him. While Anthony seems to be constantly on the shelf, we will have only waited 11 weeks between Sergio’s fights, which is exactly what is needed for such a top young prospect.
His opponent on January 25 will be TUF veteran, Alex ‘Bruce Leroy’ Caceres.
When Caceres rose to prominence on The Ultimate Fighter as a 4-2 novice and was dispatched early in the competition, observers could be forgiven for writing him off as a flawed fighter, who won his place on the show through goofy behaviour and a silly name.
However, since graduating from the show and emerging through two tough losses at the start of his UFC career, the 25-year-old has put together an impressive 4-1-1 record. In fact, that could have easily been a 6-0 record if not for wacky judging and refereeing for the Edwin Figueroa fight, and a positive marijuana test after the Kyung Ho Kang fight. He has shown well rounded skills, the ability to stay calm under pressure and go the distance in fights with tough opponents.
Although it is important to give prospects regular fights, it’s also important to make sure they’re not pushed too hard too quickly. Pettis is 10-0, but he is the youngest fighter in the UFC at 20 years of age and he was far from dominant in his UFC debut. With that said, given his potential, a fight with Caceres is a well-made one. Even if he can’t win, he will lose to a streaking veteran with fan appeal of his own.
UFC on Fox 10 is set to be headed by a five-round main event between Ben Henderson and Josh Thomson in a fight that have major implications for the lightweight title picture. The full fight card is listed below,
Lightweight – Benson Henderson vs. Josh Thomson
Heavyweight – Stipe Miocic vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Featherweight – Darren Elkins vs. Jeremy Stephens
Bantamweight – Chico Camus vs. Yaotzin Meza
Lightweight – Donald Cerrone vs. Adriano Martins
Welterweight – Pascal Krauss vs. Adam Khaliev
Bantamweight – Junior Hernandez vs. Hugo Viana
Bantamweight – Eddie Wineland vs. Yves Jabouin
Heavyweight – Walt Harris vs. Nikita Krylov
Lightweight – Daron Cruickshank vs. Mike Rio
Heavyweight – Jared Rosholt vs. Alexey Oleinik
Bantamweight – Alex Caceres vs. Sergio Pettis
