Featherweight Alex Caceres is on the road again this weekend, fighting Giga Chikadze at UFC Singapore in a bout that could push the winner into title contention.
Caceres (21-13, 1NC) is on the best stretch of his career, posting a 7-1 record in his last eight bouts. It’s his attitude, however, that he believes has brought him to Singapore.
“I just don’t deny fights. I’m a warrior. Whatever fight you offer me, I’m going to take it,” said Caceres during this week’s UFC Singapore media day. “I want to test my abilities. And I guess they put me in Asia a lot because I’m Bruce Leeroy.”
The match-up with Chikadze feels explosive on paper, sure to entertain. But Caceres believes he’s “entertaining enough even if my opponent isn’t.”
As far as a win over Chikadze getting him into the title picture, “I don’t really think about it too much,” Caceres explained. “These things do not matter to me. Fighting is something that I love to do. It’s what I do, it’s a lifestyle, [that’s what] martial arts is to me.”
“Therefore it’s a part of a journey. There is no destination for me. I took the fight on a shorter notice than I usually would. It’s just, I don’t care, just let me fight. Let me do the thing that I love to do the most in life. I do understand that winning this fight and beating people at higher rankings does push me further and closer to a title shot. But once again, I’m here to prove how good I am to myself, and it has nothing to do with the accolades and treasures that I can possess in achieving such rankings.”
While Caceres hopes to practice martial arts until he’s old and grey, not having a destination in mind is also freeing. Martial arts is part of his life, but it’s not all-consuming.
“It is quite liberating not to have any destination in mind. Life is long, and it’s not all about winning titles or making money and having fame and glory,” Caceres explained. “I find more importance in having a good time with my wife, or having children in the future, building a home. This is life. This is life, and martial arts is a part of my life, but it isn’t my life. I love doing it every single day, but hopefully that can inspire some people to not take it so seriously.”
Watch the full UFC Singapore media day appearance by Alex Caceres above.
