Alex Caceres defeats Daniel Pineda in back-and-forth encounter at UFC on ESPN 46
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to us tonight, June 3, 2023 for UFC on ESPN 46, having took place at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada.
Headlining the event is a highly anticipated flyweight encounter between no. 3 ranked Kai Kara-France (24-10, 1 NC) and no. 7 ranked Amir Albazi (16-1).
Co-headlining the event was a featherweight bout between Alex Caceres (20-13, 1 NC) and Daniel Pineda (28-14, 3 NC).
Caceres came into the bout having gone 6-1 over his latest seven appearances, most recently KO’ing Julian Erosa with a head kick last December.
Pineda on the other hand had gone 2-1 (1 NC) since returning to the UFC in August of 2020. He had a brief stint with PFL in 2019 where he picked up a pair of first round stoppages over the likes of Movlid Khaybulaev (TKO, 20-0-1) and Jeremy Kennedy (guillotine choke, 19-3). However, both of those wins were overturned due to a failed drug test, resulting in no contests in three of his last six fights.
Since returning to the UFC, Pineda had defeated Herbert Burns (TKO), lost to Cub Swanson (KO), had a no contest with Andre Fili (eye poke), and most recently defeated Tucker Lutz (guillotine choke) earlier this year in March.
Continue reading to see how our co-main event of the evening went down:
Official Result: Alex Caceres def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Caceres wins the early grappling exchanges and gains top position about two minutes into the opening round.
Pineda is offensive off his back however and throws up his legs for an armbar, which he comes very close to securing. Caceres then allowed him to stand, where he eventually hurts Pineda with a one-two at the end of the round and wobbles him a bit.
Most of round two is spent with Pineda dominating Caceres on the mat. Caceres does reverse him at one point and spend some time on top but was ultimately locked in a kimura and swept back to his back.
Caceres dominates the third and final round with his striking. He hurts Pineda bad with a body kick in the first minute and hurt him to the body twice more throughout the round, each with a punch and a nasty knee.
This is a fight we could’ve saw in the UFC back in 2012 or 2013, but they end up fighting 10 years later, and it was a great fight. Alex Caceres improves his streak to two-straight tonight at UFC on ESPN 46.
If you enjoyed this piece, feel free to share it on social media!
