UFC Fight Night 92: Rodriguez vs Caceres Fight Pass prelims preview

The UFC continues to be schizophrenic in its handling of Fight Pass as it goes from featuring one of the least cared about fights at UFC 201 to featuring the most star-laden fight on the whole card for UFC Fight Night 92. I will admit that this is one of the worst cards in terms of name value in recent memory, but wouldn’t that give them more reason to feature their name value on FS1?

Even if Cub Swanson and Tatsuya Kawajiri never fight for UFC gold, both have carved out notable careers with each of them ranking near the top of the standings of their weight classes at various points. Both have also shown that they still have something left in their tanks. Here’s hoping that they do.

The Fight Pass prelims start at 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT.

Cub Swanson (22-7) vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri (35-9-2), Featherweight

By far the most established fighters on the card, Swanson and Kawajiri don’t appear to be making a run to the top anytime soon. That doesn’t mean they can’t put on an entertaining show….

Swanson’s name was in title contention as recently as 2014 following a six-fight win streak before having his momentum halted with back-to-back losses to Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway. While the losses removed him from contention, he has since rebounded with a comfortable decision win over Hacran Dias this past April to let the world know that he can still be a viable gatekeeper to the elite of the division.

Kawajiri has been fighting professionally since 2000 with the majority of his career taking place at lightweight. The Japanese legend dropped to featherweight five years ago with his only losses in his new division coming to Clay Guida and Dennis Bermudez. Coming off of the loss to Bermudez, no one expects Kawajiri to make a title run at the age of 38. He has put forth quality efforts in the waning years of his career and there is no indication that he is about to drop off at this point.

Considering he has been around since 2000, it is no surprise that Kawajiri’s strategy is very much a throwback to yesteryear. Known as “Crusher”, his primary objective is to get his opponent on their back and unleash a torrent of vicious ground and pound to finish the fight. Nearly impossible to shake once he achieves mount, he’s happy using a submission as his opponent squirms beneath him looking to escape if he can’t land accurate punches. Arm-triangle chokes or taking the back for a RNC are his preferred …

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