Video: UFC 175's Alex Caceres talks lifestyle that led to high school expulsion

UFC bantamweight Alex Caceres doesn’t have a high school diploma, but he believes he has a firm grasp on what the school system is all about – especially the pitfalls.

“The way the schools are organized is just a load of crap,” Caceres told MMAjunkie. “They’re just teaching kids how to work a 9-to-5, just boring them to death. No one’s really learning anything in school, anyway. They’re just trying to get the grade to get by. Most people that get their degrees in college cheated off each other or cheated just to get by.”

Caceres was expelled in his senior year of high school for a history of fighting. That’s not particularly surprising considering his future profession in MMA. What is surprising, though, is his lack of desire to complete his degree or return to any form of formal education.

“I got kicked out in my senior year – I used to get in a lot of fights in high school,” Caceres said. “I actually had three scholarships: one for creative writing, one for creative arts and one for wrestling. I still got into a lot of fights in high school because I was always the smaller guy and people wanted to pick on me. I never really said anything. I would like to hit people first, ask questions later.

“One day, some guys tried to steal my friend’s purse and I caught him. Long story short, I taught him a lesson and they brought me the principal’s office and said we couldn’t take matters into our own hands and they were going to suspend me once more. I just told her –because I was already pissed that this guy stole my friend’s purse – I said, ‘It’s because of people like you we live in the world we live in today.’ Then she got really mad, so instead of the suspension it turned into an expulsion. It is what it is; it turned out for the better.”

Caceres said he feels let down by the school system. The 26-year-old says he has always been a unique thinker, and his ultimate expulsion led him to realize the true flaws of the school structure.

“I couldn’t stand the way the curriculum went in school,” Caceres said. “They wanted to teach kids by walking in, hand you a packet and just make you do busy work all day. There was no interactive teaching. Around 10th grade I had the teacher that stood out the most, one of my language arts and creative writing teachers really turned me on to a lot of different books, different ideas and just a different way of thinking how life should be. At that point I really started just trying to look for truth instead of just doing the work to get by.”

While Caceres certainly isn’t encouraging anyone to drop out or be forced out of school as he was, he believes there’s no point in being there unless a student has a true desire to learn.

Going to school is a part of life, and what Caceres believes has worked for him may not be the proper avenue for others. But he does wish he could provide this generation of students with some words of wisdom:

“If you’re going to school, I suggest you go to learn, not to pass,” Caceres said. “To pass requires something different. It requires you to be obedient. It requires you to think inside the box and it doesn’t require you to be creative. I want you to go there and learn. Learn the subject, get the books if they don’t teach you and you read them, comprehend them. Actually learn the subject, be creative, think outside the box, start creating things, get rid of those Xerox copies of tests and questions and basically bulls—t. Get out there and actually learn something, and if the schools don’t have that for you, then trust me. I learned most of my stuff in the public library, there’s tons of books there. Read.”

Caceres (10-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) will next compete tonight when he meets Urijah Faber (30-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) at UFC 175 from Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center. It’s the featured FOX Sports 1-televised prelim, which precedes the pay-per-view main card.

For more on UFC 175, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.