Steve Erceg competes in the biggest fight of his career as he competes at UFC 301 for undisputed flyweight gold. With only three fights in the promotion many have questioned whether the Australian deserves his spot and if he is a worthy challenger.
Many fighters have entered the UFC, impressed quickly and earned themselves a shot at gold. The likes of Jiří Procházka, Alex Pereira and Brock Lesnar have all competed less than three times in the cage before challenging for their respective divisions championship.
However unlike Erceg, the three men above already had big name value before entering the UFC. For Procházka he was a Rizin champion and a 30 fight veteran with a record of 26-3-1. For Pereira he was considered to be one of the best kickboxers of this generation as well as holding multiple wins over the then middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Finally for Lesnar, he was a massive draw with his stardom at an all time high due to his WWE tenure.
Steve Erceg Fast Tracked to UFC Glory
With all the above being said, let’s look at why Steve Erceg’s rise to a potential UFC championship is different. 9-1 before entering the UFC. all ten of his previous fights took place in his home country of Australia. Fighting at both flyweight and bantamweight, Erceg would earn the Eternal MMA Flyweight title in his 7th fight. He would fight three more times in the promotion twice at bantamweight and once where he defended his belt.
His original route to the UFC was to be via Dana White’s Contender Series. However, due to various issues including visa issues and opponent injuries he was unable to compete for a UFC contract. What originally seemed like bad luck later turned out to be a huge stroke of good fortune.
Skipping DWCS. Erceg would enter the UFC and take on a ranked opponent in his very first bout. Surprising many. The Australian, who was competing outside of his native land for the very time, would dominate David Dvorak on short notice at UFC 289. This fight earned him an extra $50,000 as a performance of the night bonus.
Now established as a top 15 flyweight. Erceg would prove his first UFC victory was far from a fluke when he defeated Alessandro Costa at UFC 295. Continuing his rise, his title shot-earning performance came earlier this year. As he delivered a stunning second-round KO victory over Matt Schnell.
Does Steve Erceg Deserve His Spot?
Currently ranked 10th in the flyweight division. Many have called into question the legitimacy of Erceg earning a shot at UFC gold despite nine contenders being ranked above him. For the UFC the choice was simple.
With UFC 301 lacking a main event, and with it being clear that Brazil’s flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja wanted to compete on the event. It left the UFC with a small window of opportunity to find a headlining fight for the PPV.
With many other top flyweight contenders coming off a loss, injured or already scheduled to fight, the list of potential opponents began to dwindle. The three most likely candidates were Brandon Royval, Muhammad Mokaev and of course Steve Erceg.
Royval was ruled out due the fact he had already been defeated by the champion in December. Mokaev, despite his impressive UFC run thus far, was unimpressive in his most recent bout where he earned a decision over Alex Perez. That only left one man. Now Steve Erceg competes in the biggest fight of his life at UFC 301.
Can Steve Erceg score another huge upset at UFC 301?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
