At UFC Vegas 50, featherweight matchup Sodiq Yusuff vs Alex Caceres will take part in one of the most exciting matchups on the entire card.
Sodiq Yusuff vs Alex Caceres – UFC Vegas 50 Preview
Sodiq Yusuff has thirteen professional MMA fights, and this fight with Caceres will be his sixth under the UFC’s banner. So far, Yusuff has looked very impressive. He has been victorious in four of those five contests, with his only loss coming at the hands of Arnold Allen, who is himself a phenomenal fighter potentially on the cusp of a world title fight.
Alex Caceres is a 25-fight UFC veteran, having amassed an overall record of 19-12. For years, Caceres would pick up a win or two, then drop just as many fights, before repeating the cycle. Since 2019, Caceres has picked up five straigh wins and, after capturing the number 15 spot in the division, gets right into the mix against Yusuff, who himself holds the number 12 spot.
It is an interesting matchup for Caceres who at 33 seems to finally be putting together the pieces of his style, which remains one of the most dynamic and exciting in the entire UFC. Yusuff is almost objectively Caceres’ toughest opponent to date, presenting a well-rounded style that has traditionally given him trouble in the past.
Sodiq Yusuff vs Alex Caceres Breakdown
When it comes to a battle of pure striking, Caceres is one of the more idiosyncratic and awkward fighters in the division, but Yusuff has proven, particularly in his winning effort against Andre Fili, that he is capable of grappling to a high level, something Caceres is far less nuanced at. Against an opponent like Chase Hooper, who hugely favors the Jiu-Jitsu approach, Caceres was able to keep the fight largely standing and batter Hooper on the feet with accurate combinations and clever footwork.
However, it is nearly impossible to overstate the difference in striking aptitude between Hooper and Yusuff, and it seems far more likely that not only can Yusuff find success on the feet, but also translate that success into wrestling exchanges and drag Caceres to the mat where he is decidedly less comfortable.
It seems that the deck is stacked in Yusuff’s favour, and it is hard to imagine that Caceres does not have to spend a least a portion of this fight adjusting to Yusuff’s aggressive striking patterns, or spending some considerable time off his back when Yusuff incorporates takedowns, but Caceres has built an unprecedented amount of momentum for himself, and now more than ever it is easier to see a path to victory for him against many of his fellow featherweight contenders.
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