The contender series brings two levels of excitement; the excitement we see in every fight card, and the excitement of seeing a fighter’s dreams come true on live broadcast. Each week we’ll look at a fighter who we think has what it takes to be one of those receiving the life changing contract.
Name: Phil Caracappa
Opponent: Ricky Steele
Caracappa has some high level regional experience having fought for Ring of Combat. The most notable win for him was a unanimous decision over UFC veteran Louis Gaudinot. Gaudinot had looked dominant in every fight since he was released by the UFC until he ran into Caracappa.
The thing that caused so much issue for Gaudinot was that Caracappa is an extremely long bantamweight. He’s 5’8″, which is the same height as Dominick Cruz, and he has really long limbs. The reach in his arms is almost secondary, because he really uses his legs to create distance. The diversity of his kicking game not only keeps his opponent moving and guessing, but helps him set up whatever else he’s going for.
With Gaudinot, he was baiting him into rushing in wildly, which Gaudinot fell right into. When he did that it allowed Caracappa to show off his quality wrestling. He spent the majority of that fight showing off his positional talent and ability to stay out of subs (which even John Lineker couldn’t do with Gaudinot).
Official Prediction: Caracappa by TKO (Ground and Pound) – Round 3
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