LAS VEGAS – Alex Caceres thinks his career is very much on the up and that there are even better days ahead for him in the octagon.

Despite being 34 and with 12-plus years of UFC experience under his belt, Caceres (20-13 MMA, 15-11 UFC) thinks he’s just now coming into his prime as a fighter. Caceres returns Saturday for what will be his 27th UFC fight. It takes place on the main card of UFC on ESPN 45 vs. Daniel Pineda (28-14 MMA, 5-5 UFC).

“I feel like I can have a very long career,” Caceres told reporters at the UFC on ESPN 45 media day. “I don’t feel like I’m slowing down. I feel like I’m coming into my own just now. I don’t feel a day older than when I started. If anything, I feel more athletic, more cardio-vascularly sound, sometimes younger than I was in my 20s.

“I think I’m hitting those final stages of puberty, I guess. I’m starting to get a crazy amount of energy. I want to work out more. I get bouncey if don’t work out. I just enjoy the progression. I enjoy the improvement.”

Caceres is 6-1 in his most recent seven UFC bouts and he thinks the key to this success has come down to the mental side of things. Self-belief took Caceres to a new level.

“There’s always doubts, but it’s whether you let the water into your ship or not, that’s the crucial matter,” Caceres said. “But there’s always doubts. I’ve been vegan for about 10 years and there’s been doubts about my diet. Maybe I’m not doing this because I’m eating this way or this way or that way. Then I prove myself wrong, and time makes a fool of me as well. But aside from that, there’s been plenty of doubts.

“I doubted that I don’t have power, that I can’t hit people hard. Then I go and prove myself wrong again. It’s beginning to come together, and it has to do a lot with believing in yourself.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 45.