The UFC 301 event ended with the match between Alexandre Pantoja and Steve Erceg. The defending champion has lost a lot of strength and injury to successfully protect the belt in the weight of Flyweight. The final victory is equal to the score (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) after 3 rounds of matches in pantoja.
The match against Pantoja is the clearest evidence that Steve Erceg is capable of rising to the top group of boxers. However, at the time when UFC 301 announced the matches, he had encountered doubts about the ability to compete. So what is the reason for UFC to give a chance to a person only ranked 10th like Erceg?
Firstly, from the perspective of UFC, Erceg is a powerful boxer. He dominated Australia's Eternal MMA, before officially signing a contract with UFC by 2023. UFC also pursued Erceg for a long time, but could not create conditions for him to play early for some reasons.
In 2022, Erceg was originally named in the selection of fighters Dana White's Contender Series. However, he could not attend because he could not get a visa. By May 2023, an Erceg match at UFC continued to be canceled for the same reason. Erceg asked for a visa to the United States in July 2023, but was canceled the match because his opponent was injured.
Erceg launched UFC at the UFC 289 event. He was chosen as a “fire fighting” for Matt Schnell, who expected David Dvorak. There was not much preparation time, but Erceg won convincingly. In 9 months, Erceg won 3 consecutive matches at UFC before the belt.
Secondly, among UFC's top 10 fighters, Steve Erceg is the best choice to be the best to fight the Alexandre Pantoja champion. The situation in this weight class is falling into a chaotic state, because no one can fight Pantoja in May, specifically as follows:
– Brandon Royval (Grade 1): Having a serious knee injury after the match in February and has not made an appointment.
– Brandon Moreno (class 2): lost 2 consecutive matches and announced a break from playing for a while.
– Amir Albazi (3rd class): Having an ancient injury at the beginning of the year and having to temporarily take a break, it was unknown.
– Kai Kara-France (class 4): lost the last 2 matches, did not play in the past 1 year, and had to withdraw from the match in August 2023 on the grounds of brain shock during training.
– Alex Perez (ranked 5): just played at a small event in late April, and will continue to play in early June.
– Muhammad Mokaev (6th): has just played in March, and could not play continuously due to ligament stretching.
– Manel Kape (Grade 7): It has not been playing for nearly a year, and has to withdraw from the last 2 events because it is impossible to squeeze down the weight needed to compete.
– Matheus Nicolau (Grade 8): lost the last 2 matches, and lost to Alex Perez in April.
– Tim Elliott (Grade 9): withdrew from the event in March due to injury, and unknown date of returning.
With this situation, Steve Erceg is not only the best choice to compete with Pantoja. He is the only option for UFC to arrange a match with the champion. Erceg himself also proved his value well, and he could look forward to higher rankings in the near future.