Kron Gracie x Alex Caceras

[Fat Cat]

Anybody got any feelings one way or another about this fight? Here's a Kron analysis:

https://www.mississaugaelite.com/kron-g ... -down-ufc/

And here's a highlight for Alex "Bruce Leroy" Caceras:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEDC_GI2CpQ

I don't know if you guys have seen Kron in Rizin, but he's been working his dirty boxing quite a bit. The question, in my mind, is whether he is ready for athleticism of the UFC. Caceras has been a pro for 11 years and, although he's lost a couple of split decisions recently, is far from a tomato can.

Anybody got strong feelings about how this will go?

[Bram]

I did a little searching.

Alex Caceres has a 14-11 record, with 6 losses due to submission. He's fought good to mid-tier competition from a quick glance.

Kron is 4-0, all with submission victories, but his latest win is over Tatsuya Kawajiri, who's 1-5 in his last 6 fights. His previous opponent has a 34-30 record.

I think it's a guess as to how Kron will do, but Alex has lost a number of times and often by submission. I'll pick Kron by sub Round 1 or 2.

[Fat Cat]

I think that's a pretty solid guess. I really haven't watched Caceras much, but he's far more experienced and he's been in the Octagon before. Kawajiri was good once, but he's old and in no way good preparation for the athleticism in the UFC.

[Bram]

The highlight of Caceras you linked shows him as athletic, spontaneous, with good spatial awareness, and a well-rounded skill set. And Caceras is still young in age, but with 25 fights under his belt. Seems like a good test for Kron.

[Fat Cat]

I'm just hoping Kron comes out to the same thing as he did in Rizin: no music just the Godzilla warning sirens from the original movie.

[Bram]

That's damn good entrance music, I'm shocked at the production difference between the UFC and Rizin. Man, UFC needs to pick it up a bit.

[Sangoma]

Nice breakdown:

[Fat Cat]

Maybe it's weird to be negative about such a dominant performance, but I think that Kron is going to have to work very hard to make a dent in the UFC. As good as his jiujitsu is, at the end of the day he's a guy with one way to win, and he will need to radically improve some of his other skill sets--not easy to do at 30--if he's gonna have a chance with the athletic freaks of his division.

[Bram]

I'll pick Kron by sub Round 1 or 2.

[Sangoma]

I agree, BJJ alone is not enough to be a king in UFC. Strikers have reasonable success dodging takedowns, and if this doesn't happen pure BJJ will not help.

[Fat Cat]

Agreed. Think of the Frankie Edgars and Max Holloways and it's very hard for me to see Kron being able to get and keep them down. His grappling is perfect but there's just too many mitigating factors when you only have one path to victory. Look at the way Maia has struggled.

Whereas Jacare, who ought to be given the title shot, has won three or four of his last 6 fights with knockouts. He has the raw athleticism to make it happen, obv in a different weight class, but that's what you need in the UFC. And four of his last five fights have been fight of the night material.

[Bram]

Found this entertaining. Not my style of diet, but I like how he says it works for him. Hard to argue with that.

[Fat Cat]

Kron really needs some elocution lessons.

[Bram]

I've been living in Southern California so long that he seems like a genius...that said, I'm pretty sure he said "lectrolytes."

[Fat Cat]

Where are you from originally? Anyway, I don't think he's stupid but the way he speaks doesn't do him any favors.

[Bram]

I'm from Northern California, Marin County -liberal, intellectual, 47 gender's accepting. Now I'm in the conservative, superficial, hateful South. Both places white as snow for the most part (but me and Tupac had the same drama teacher).

[Fat Cat]

Wait...so Northern California is more liberal than Southern California? Gosh, I'm so provincial. I thought it was the other way around.

[Bram]

I see you're a worldly man...

To be honest, Northern California is just as superficial, it's just about other shit. I'd say So Cal is simply more about the body, Nor Cal is more about the mind, both tend to have a lack of the spirit.

[Fat Cat]

Man, California is so big it's a bit confusing for someone from a tiny island. California is as big as Czech Republic, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Kosovo, Slovenia, Netherlands, and Luxembourg combined.

[Bram]

When you've barely traveled as I have, I guess you forget that other people might be a little more worldly. :)

[Fat Cat]

Well I've traveled a great deal all over but I still find the western US to be so big that it can be intimidating. I know lots of folks kind of panic when they get to Hawaii and they look out and all there is, is ocean. For thousands and thousands of miles. That's how I feel sometimes when I've been in big western states, except it's the land that goes on forever and you could just disappear without a trace. Sort of like that airport feeling of insignificance.