Daniel Pineda (28-14 MMA, 5-5 UFC) will look to make it two in a row when he fights Alex Caceres (20-13 MMA, 15-11 UFC) in the co-main event of the UFC Vegas card scheduled for Saturday, June 3.
Pineda said he is excited about the featherweight showdown with “Bruce Leeroy.”
“He’s been around for a while, and he’s still on top of the game,” Pineda told MMASucka.
He noted Caceres being 6-1 in his last seven bouts, which propelled him to No. 15 in the featherweight rankings.
Caceres, during his tear, has wins over Julian Erosa, Chase Hooper and Steven Peterson, to name a few. He has also gone toe-to-toe against the likes of interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez, Sodiq Yusuff, Kron Gracie and Jason Knight.
Pineda feels a win over Caceres should get him ranked at 145.
“That’s the goal,” he said. “Go in there, finish him and show the UFC why they gave me a five-fight deal. They extended my contract for five more fights. Go in there, show out and see what’s up.”
Pineda hopes Caceres will come straight forward when the two of them clash.
“I’ll always fight that fight, coming forward,” Pineda said. “I’m pretty sure [Caceres] knows that. We’ll see where he wants to go. I see. I think I’ll make him shoot in once he feels my power, and I’ll submit him there.”
Pineda is predicting a second-round stoppage.
“Feel him out in the first round and finish him in the second,” he said. “I’ll knock him out or submit him and hopefully keep climbing the ladder on the most submissions at 145.”
Pineda first became aware that he was fighting in the co-main event around a week ago. People tagged him in the news to alert “The Pit.” He said it’s “pretty cool” to fight in his first UFC co-main event.
“I think they got a very exciting co-main event. We both go in there and try to finish fights.”
Pineda will return to action for the second time in just over two months. His last win was a guillotine choke over Tucker Lutz. Pineda has fought the likes of Cub Swanson, Herbert Burns, Movlid Khaybulaev, Jeremy Kennedy, Georgi Karakhanyan, Emmanuel Sanchez, Mike Brown, Diego Brandao, and more.
Prior to the Lutz win, Pineda had not fought in an MMA bout since a loss to Swanson in December 2020. He is hoping to get at least a third fight in before the end of the year.
“I was off for almost two years and then got these two fights back-to-back. Probably one more by the end of the year if everything goes good and I come out healthy in this fight. Then I’ll see who’s next on the radar.”
The UFC Vegas event is slated for the UFC Apex at 6 p.m. ET on June 3. The card will air on ESPN+.
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