Steve Erceg’s hot start has put him at No. 10 in the latest UFC flyweight rankings. Last month, the UFC announced that Erceg would be getting the next crack at UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301.
Pantoja was selected to headline UFC 301 on 4 May 2024 at the Farmassi Arena in his hometown of Rio de Janeiro. However, the promotion’s matchmakers had a problem. Pantoja beat the No.1 and No. 2 contenders of the division in his last two fights.
The 3rd ranked contender suffered an injury at the start of the year. With Pantoja stating that he was willing to fight a lower-ranked opponent, the UFC went through its rankings and decided that the newcomer Erceg was the guy.
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Steve Erceg is a former Eternal MMA flyweight champion in Australia. The Perth-born mixed martial artist joined the UFC last year and has fought three times inside the Octagon. Known as Astroboy, Erceg is 3-0 in the UFC with his victories over David Dvorak and Matt Schnell earning him Performance of the Night honours.
Erceg said he was eating KFC when he learned that he was Pantoja’s UFC 301 opponent. However, Erceg said that he wasn’t really surprised that he got the title shot. In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA:
“I’d say about a five,” Erceg said when asked to rate his amazement on a scale from 1-10. “It wasn’t a complete surprise just because I did get asked a few weird questions by the UFC broadcast team and that sort of stuff. Then, my dad actually predicted he thought that I’d get the fight next and I called him an idiot. But I do apologise for that one ’cause obviously he was right.”
So for the first time in their careers, Alexandre Pantoja and Steve Erceg will headline a UFC card, a pay-per-view event at that. UFC 301 will feature five early prelims fights, four prelims bouts, and five main card contests. Of course, the UFC 301 main event will feature Erceg looking to wrest the gold from Pantoja. This should be a banger.