UFC 143 Results: Edwin Figueroa Needs to Come out Much Earlier Despite Victory

Despite getting the victory at UFC 143, Edwin Figueroa didn't look all that convincing against Alex Caceres.

Sure, he did get nailed with low blows twice in the match, but he still didn't look in control for besides a few outburst.

Those instances looked to be more of an angry revenge following the painful kicks, rather than his actual game plan to actually take this match.

If it wasn't for the points that Caceres lost due to his mistakes, it was pretty clear that he was the winner in all other areas of that match.

He was able to submit Figueroa consistently throughout the match but was unable to take the win because of those penalties.

While Figueroa was able to escape those submissions, he didn't do much getting out of them, and more often than not, he was put right back into another.

It really wasn't all that impressive of a fight for a guy who was coming into this match with an overall record of 8-1, especially for a guy who is primarily a striker.

When he got on his revenge streak during the match, he was striking, and it looked like he had the match all sealed up at that point.

Instead, he backed off and began to be submitted throughout the next two rounds, taking this one all the way to a decision.

He fought smart towards the end because it was over after the second low blow, but he didn't get to what he does best early enough.

If he can stick to what should be his game plan, he can likely win at the UFC by knockout because he can strike as hard as anyone else.