While he might have been viewed as an unlikely title challenger in just his fourth Octagon appearance, Steve Erceg proved that he belonged on that stage this past May.
The 29-year-old Australian gave Alexandre Pantoja all he could handle in the UFC 301 headliner, ultimately dropping a competitive unanimous decision to the reigning flyweight champion in Rio de Janeiro.
“Showed people that, despite the apparent pressure, I’m not going to wilt,” Erceg recently told the New York Post. “Although it looked too soon and all that nonsense, it probably wasn’t.