This weekend the UFC will be hosting UFC 301. This card will be hosted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The main card will be on ESPN+ and TNT Sports following the prelims on ESPN 2 and TNT and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass and TNT Sports. Alexandre Pantoja headlines the card as he puts his flyweight title on the line against Steve Erceg
Steve Erceg Career
Steve Erceg has not been with the UFC long as he only made his UFC debut in June 2023. Erceg comes from Perth, Australia and while only been in the UFC for 11 months has had 3 UFC fights so far. During his time in the UFC Steve Erceg has only been able to get 35 minutes and 26 seconds of octagon time which may not be a lot. However, Steve Erceg has managed to climb to be the number 10 ranked fighter in the UFC flyweight rankings.
Steve Erceg came into the UFC 9-1 when he made his UFC debut at UFC 289 in June 2023. Erceg came in as a replacement for Matt Schnell who had to withdraw due to fracturing his hand during training. Despite having his fight on the early prelims of the card as well as only getting a decision victory Erceg was able to get a “Performance of the Night” bonus.
This victory over David Dvořák put Erceg into the UFC flyweight rankings. In his next fight, Steve Erceg went up against Alessandro Costa in the “featured prelim” of the UFC 295 card. While coming up against the 13-3 prospect he was able to once again pick up another unanimous decision win.
After being able to defeat Alessandro Costa, this moved Erceg up in the rankings to the number 12 position. This got him a fight against Matt Schnell in March 2024. Erceg was able to get the victory and his second “Performance of the Night” bonus with his second-round knockout. This victory moved him into the top 10 in the rankings. Due to some booking quirks, this was able to earn him a shot at the title and give him the top spot on the UFC 301 card.
Erceg Skillset
Steve Erceg is coming into this fight standing at 5-foot-8 with a reach of 68 inches. Steve Erceg is coming into this fight with a 1-inch reach advantage. Just like Panotja, Erceg prefers to fight out of an orthodox stance. Currently, he averages a fight time of 11 minutes and 49 seconds.
Steve Erceg lands more than his opponent and this is shown as he lands 4.57 significant strikes. While he has a high output of strikes he has an accuracy of 48%. This is greater than he absorbs 3.64 significant strikes per minute. While he absorbs these strikes he does use his defence to limit this as he defends 55% of strikes which he faces.
Erceg does have a good grappling record however, it isn’t as good as Pantoja. This is due to Erceg being able to land 1.69 takedowns per 15 minutes. While he lands 1.69 takedowns per 15 minutes he has a success rate of 30%. However, he does have a good record of being able to defend against takedowns. This is due to him having a takedown defence of 77%.
Featured image credit to Embed from Getty Images
