Steve Erceg’s title shot opportunity at UFC 301 was definitely unexpected – even for him.
After less than a year in the promotion, Erceg (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) got the call to challenge flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (27-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) in Saturday’s main event at Rio Arena in Rio de Janeiro (Pay-per-view/ESPN/ESPN+).
Erceg recalls the exact moment he got the call, and let’s just say fighting soon was definitely not on his mind.
“So, I was at the kitchen table eating KFC when I got the call, enjoying my break,” Erceg told Submission Radio. “And then, yeah, my reaction was sort of laugh because two reasons. I guess one was dad sort of predicted the fact that he thought I might get the call, and I called him an idiot.
“So, I thought I probably owed him an apology. And the second was I didn’t know if I should throw out the KFC or finish it. And ultimately I decided to finish the three-piece feed.”
Erceg told MMA Junkie he’d say yes if he got the call to face Pantoja but was initially trying to get a fight with Brandon Moreno. Now that he’s drawn Pantoja, he knows he’ll have to outlast him to dethrone him.
“I think honestly it’s his mental toughness,” Erceg said of Pantoja. “He gets here, he gets put into bad spots sometimes, but he just keeps going forward. He gets tired, and he finds a way to keep pushing the whole fight, and somebody that’s not going to give up is a very dangerous person.
“Obviously, he has great skills outside of that, but some people with great skills, if they’re not winning the way they expect to be winning, they break. But I don’t believe he will break. So, I’m going to have to take it away from him.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 301.
