Steve Erceg Reveals ‘Ideal’ Way He’d Like to Defeat Alexandre Pantoja

Despite all the noise surrounding his next booking, Steve Erceg is laser-focused on his upcoming flyweight title meeting with Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301 and is hoping to walk away with a statement win over the Brazilian in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

Much has been made of Erceg (12-1) receiving a title shot just three wins and 11 months into his Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure. And while the Australian admittedly got the opportunity perhaps because he was “at the right place at the right time,” that won’t deter him from attempting to walk away with a decisive win over “The Cannibal.”

While “Astro Boy” sees Pantoja as a class act with superior grappling, the 28-year-old also sees himself soundly defeating the Brazilian, “especially on the feet.”

“Well, I like the way he carries himself; he carries himself respectfully. He has a great heart, super tough, obviously great grappling, he looks very strong. I just think there's a lot of holes, especially on the feet. He gets away with them because he is so tough. I don't think that's going to work against me,” Erceg told MiddleEasy. “Yeah, I just think I'm going to pick him apart. That being said, it’s not like I'm going to be able to stay on the outside the whole time I fully expect him to find ways to get to the grappling, that sort of thing. But I’m no chump there. I’m also a black belt. Before people started calling me a knockout guy cause I had one knockout I was a ‘grappler’ in the UFC so I’m fully confident in my skills on the ground and in the grapple and I think I separate myself with the striking technique.”

Erceg’s claims regarding his grappling prowess are backed by the fact that “Astro Boy” made his way to the UFC on an eight-fight win streak that saw him secure five victories via submission. Additionally, his striking skills were on full display in his most recent outing against Matt Schnell, where the Myaree native secured an emphatic Round 2 knockout victory.

Asked about the ideal manner in which he’d like to earn the flyweight strap at UFC 301, a confident Erceg said:

“Obviously there's lots of different ways it could go, and I have thought about a lot of different avenues to victory and stuff, but I want to show that it’s not a fluke. So, the ideal way would be, be on the outside, touch him up for a couple, maybe one or two rounds on the outside and then yeah, either knock him out in the third or late in the second or take him down into his expertise on the ground and then make a statement by submitting him there. I think that’d be the ideal way to get it done.”