After recording his first win inside the Octagon, Alex “Bruce Leroy” Caceres will look to improve his winning streak in a bantamweight bout against Edwin Figueroa.

Caceres’ tenure in the UFC had not been so gracious to him prior to moving down to 135 pounds. During his appearances at featherweight, Caceres succumbed to two consecutive submission losses at the likes of Mackens Semerzier and Jim Hettes, putting some doubt into his future as a UFC fighter. 

But Caceres would rebound with a win over Cole Escovedo in his bantamweight debut at UFC on FOX 1, keeping his job intact for the immediate future.

Meanwhile, Figueroa has maintained a meteoric rise within the 135-pound division. After losing a hard-fought decision to Michael McDonald, the 26-year-old would capitalize and get the win over Jason Reinhardt at UFC Live 5. 

This bout should be an intriguing matchup on the feet, stylistically, as both Caceres and Figueroa tend to push the pace and try to look for the finish early. 

Both competitors bring exciting styles into their bout, but if Caceres cannot maintain a good pace and prevent the bout from hitting the canvas, he could be at a disadvantage as he has shown to be susceptible to superior grapplers on the ground. Figueroa has only recorded two submission wins in his career so it is unlikely he is a threat to Caceres in the guard.

However, this bout should have its fair share of time spent on the feet, with Figueroa looking to utilize his kickboxing to out-point Caceres for a unanimous decision.

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After the night’s proceedings at UFC 143 this Saturday weekend, Nick Diaz will continue his arduous journey to Georges St-Pierre and the coveted welterweight crown, whilst leaving a crushed and defeated Carlos Condit in his wake.

Both Diaz (26-7-1NC MMA, 7-4 UFC) and Condit are quite adept at striking, having scored 13 stoppages apiece.

That said, Diaz is not one to shy away from adversity as was proven in his fight with the hard-hitting Paul “Semtex” Daley, whom he miraculously turned the tables on via TKO to retain his now-relinquished Strikeforce 170-lb crown.

Diaz should be all up in Condit’s face and pressing the action from the opening stanza, putting his boxing skills to good use with an array of jabs, hooks, uppercuts and body shots.

Though, as long as he employs the same methodical approach as he did against B.J. Penn, then a resounding victory either by decision or TKO will be on the cards.

If, however, things don’t pan out in the striking department for the Stockton native, expect him to take the fight to the mat (his recent training stints with accomplished judoka Ronda Rousey should pay dividends) and test the resolve of the jiu-jitsu purple belt.

Despite the fact that Condit (27-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has 13 submissions in his win column, it’s worth noting that he has also suffered three defeats that have come by way of the aforementioned subs.

Conversely, Diaz has never succumbed to a submission, so the onus is on Condit to either stand and bang or find out how great an exponent of GJJ the Cesar Gracie fighter really is.

Still, whether fighting off of his back or in top position, Diaz will wait for that one mistake to capitalize on and thus end Condit’s quest for UFC gold.

It’s a well-documented fact that Diaz has cardio through the roof, and if his strategy is to push the fight into the later rounds, then expect him to implement his relentless offensive attack to wear down Condit.

And once “Natural Born Killer” begins to wilt as a result of the indefatigable pressure, Diaz will go in for the kill.

There is too much at stake for Diaz to lose this matchup—he will crush Condit by the night’s end.

UFC 143 is scheduled for Feb. 4, 2012, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Courtesy of :Bleacher Report – UFC