9. The Opportunity Of A Lifetime For Alex Caceres
Jeff Chiu/AP/Press Association ImagesNobody expected Alex Caceres to receive such a step-up in competition. He became the first fighter to defeat Sergio Pettis last January in a very exciting fight. He displayed excellent grappling, along with improved striking from his kicks. It was his most composed performance ever compared to his earlier fights, where he'd get careless. His striking and takedown defense has improved greatly over the past few fights. We all know that Urijah Faber is on a completely different level than his past opponents. It's hard to truly see where Caceres can win this fight, besides utilizing his slight reach advantage. He's one of the bigger bantamweights in the division and has started to use that to his advantage. If he can avoid getting into wild scrambles with Faber and make this into a kick-boxing match, stranger things have happened. This will be a massive test to see if Caceres is headed in the right direction. He can't afford to try to out-grapple Faber, because he'll end up on bottom or Faber will take his back in a precarious position. Composure will be a key factor in this fight for him.