BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Alex Caceres never has been shy about admitting he’s a different type of fighter.

In fact, he probably wouldn’t want to be classified a “fighter” at all. Instead, Caceres is all about being a martial artist. And he’s so not into the whole fight game thing that not only does he not really follow the sport, he’s basically put off by the way fans typically consume any sports.

“I don’t even watch it, to be honest,” Caceres told MMAjunkie. “I don’t watch it. I don’t know who the fighters are. I know some of them, just because I’m around it so much I have to know some of them. I didn’t know who (Artem) Lobov was till the fight (was booked). That’s not taking anything away from (my opponents) – I just really don’t keep up with it.

“I don’t keep up with baseball, basketball, any type of arena sports or gladiatorial sports that have to feed to the mob (of fans) because a lot of it is disrespectful to the actual art of it. That’s what it is – it’s an art, and people don’t give it respect. People don’t give it what it deserves. They go out there and start ridiculing other people, picking sides. Even in football or baseball or basketball, how do you pick sides? These guys are all elite athletes. They’d doing this for your entertainment. Where’s the level of respect for all players on the same ground? … How do you disrespect any of that? That always puts a bad taste in my mouth.”

On Saturday, Caceres (13-11 MMA, 8-9 UFC) meets Lobov (13-14-1 MMA, 2-4 UFC) at UFC 223 to close out the UFC Fight Pass-streamed prelims at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The main card will air on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Like it or not for Caceres, sports fans do pick sides. It’d be hard to tell Red Sox and Yankees fans they shouldn’t cheer against the other side when they play – that they should just applaud the athleticism of the athletes no matter who wins. Put the Bears and Packers on a football field, and sides will be taken.

And the same goes for fighters in cages – though there’s a better chance fans of one fighter will give respect to the other at the end. But that’s not what Caceres is all about, even if this is how he makes his living.

“It’s a blood sport – it’s gladiatorial,” he said. “And gladiatorial sports were for the mob. It doesn’t fit into a martial arts lifestyle. That part of the sport – that becomes a job, coming in and doing all the stuff in that realm. But other than that, I love martial arts. I think the only time you can be free in this sport is when you’re in the cage, because there’s little they can do at that moment.”

Caceres will come into Saturday’s fight with Lobov needing to get back on track after a split-decision loss to Wang Guan in November. And he’s dropped three of his past four overall and six of his past nine.

But even after watching the fight with Guan back again, he knows he belongs in the UFC with the top featherweights.

“One thing I took away from it is I saw that I know when I’m out there, I want to fight. There’s no quit in me,” Caceres said.

For more from Caceres, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC 223, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.