UFC on FOX 23 results: Jason Knight chokes out Alex Caceres in second round

DENVER – Jason Knight put the pressure on Alex Caceres right away and kept it on, even when things weren’t going his way.

But after getting Caceres (12-10 MMA, 7-8 UFC) to the floor in the second round, Knight (16-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) locked on a rear-naked choke to force the tap at the 4:21 mark, notching the submission victory after a spirited back-and-forth.

The featherweight bout opened up the main card of today’s UFC on FOX 23 event at Pepsi Center in Denver. It aired on FOX following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Knight and Caceres made their intentions clear early, meeting in the center of the cage and trading power shots to start the fight. At first, it was Caceres getting the better of the exchanges, in part by keeping Knight guessing with his unpredictable striking attack.

Toward the end of the first, however, Knight slammed Caceres to the floor and quickly took his back, exploiting what appeared to be a considerable edge in the grappling department.

Knight looked to repeat that success early in the second, and after Caceres to the mat and then following him down he again took the back, immediately locking on the body triangle. Caceres battled back gamely, thwarting several choke attempts. But Knight kept digging his forearm under the chin, and he eventually forced Caceres to tap, halting the bout in the final minute of Round 2.

With the victory, Knight has now won three straight in the UFC. Caceres has now lost two in a row.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on FOX 23 results include:

• Jason Knight def. Alex Caceres via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:21
• Sam Alvey def. Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Raphael Assuncao def. Aljamain Sterling via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Li Jingliang def. Bobby Nash via knockout (punches) – Round 2, 4:45
• Jordan Johnson def. Luis Henrique da Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Eric Spicely def. Alessio Di Chirico via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 2:14
• Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Jeremy Kimball via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:27
• Alexandre Pantoja def. Eric Shelton via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jason Gonzalez def. J.C. Cottrell via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 3:54

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 23, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Steven Marrocco contributed to this report on site in Vancouver.)