Las Vegas, NV – UFC featherweight Alex Caceres enters his 7th UFC APEX fight when he takes on Daniel Pineda at UFC Vegas 74 on Saturday night, but it’s not something he dwells on at all.
“It doesn’t make a difference to me. When I was at 135 I was fighting all over the place and I went three years unbeaten,” Caceres told reporters on Wednesday.
“I’ve always been comfortable in crisis situations I feel.”
Setting aside Caceres (20-13) has had an exceptional run as of late. After an up-and-down run through the first few years of his UFC stint he has put up a 6-1 record in his last 7 including a TKO finish of Julian Erosa last Dec.
“I think I just hit a stride right there. I’m beginning to understand a little bit better. I understand my mind a little bit better, or I have a little bit more faith in my body and it’s actions a little bit better,” he said.
“I think that’s the biggest difference, and it might come with maturity.”
The maturity that comes at 34-years-old having been with the UFC since 2011 and experiencing the rollercoaster of a ride that he’s had has been a learning experience.
“Maybe I’m growing a little bit more. I’m becoming more of a man. Maybe the facial hair is starting to give me a little bit more confidence. Aside from that I do feel like I’m coming into my own,” Caceres said.
At UFC Vegas 74 he faces Daniel Pineda who has just as much, if not more, experience than Caceres with a 28-14 record of his own. Caceres gave him credit for it, but the type of lessons and experience is just as important as he pointed out.
“Well having a number of fights, and having experiences are quite different. It really depends on what you learn from every fight, and what you take from it. Whether you improve from the outside eye or not, but how much do you learn, how much do you grow from within yourself,” he said.
“There’s a lot of people that has years on me and don’t have the same amount of experience that I do. So to me I don’t really think about the experience levels or anything like that. The readiness and the gameness is what would probably have me more cautious than the experience.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Alex Caceres above. He takes on Daniel Pineda at UFC Vegas 74 on Saturday night.
