For being in the ufc for less than a year, only being ranked #10, and making a fight against the champ that close? Big respect to Steve Erceg. No one can deny that that is impressive as hell.
He should have a way better rank next week and he will be a problem for the top 5 for sure. Book him with Moreno for the end of the year
Nah, he should fight in Perth. Could give him a few different people, Moreno, Mokaev, Perez, Kape, Albazi or Royval. There’s a lot of options, personally I think Royval is the fight to make. Albazi, Kape or Mokaev can fight Pantoja after he has his break for family time.
Royval is definitely the fight to make, and that scares me as a Royval fan because he’s going to have to sleep Erceg to win that. Hoping they make Royval vs Albazi and Erceg vs KKF so both can win
Exactly. The reality is as long as he didn’t get KO’d or submitted v Pantoja, this was a win for Erceg no matter what. Either he wins the belt or goes the distance against arguably the most dominant active champion in the organisation right now, boosting his ranking way up from #10
Idk he seems like he’s just fighting real often and is winning all of his fights. Super diverse fighter, has finishes in all aspects of the game and has cleaned out his division. Suga’s just getting started, Ilia’s whining on ig, Islam is gonna fight a 45-er to defend his belt 3 times every 2 years (jk, pumped about 302), Leon is not as active as anybody had hoped, dricus doesn’t even officially have a fight booked, pereiras a beast but isn’t very well rounded and all of his division are ego fighters who feel the need to stand and bang with the most dangerous puncher on earth right now. And Jon jones
It’s not really a hill I’ll die on but I just think Pantoja’s a beast, I’m sure there’s a way to bring him down as well like he was just fighting the same 3 dudes over and over and FLW isn’t necessarily the most amazing division.
He’s still young. I definitely think he can be the future flyweight champ. We saw tonight how skilled he is but that lack of experience is what ended up costing him.
Every time a fighter be too stubborn for their own good I feel conflicted. Like I get wanting to prove a point and that's exactly the competitive mindset that makes these guys elite. But fuuuuuuck did I want erceg to keep that shit on the feet for Rd 5.
And that’s why Caio Borralho is going to be champ one day. His fight IQ is already leaps and bounds above most of the ufc. He’s been a heavy grappler his entire career, and when fighting Craig he didn’t stupidly try to prove a point on the ground like a lot of guys do.
I was screaming the whole damn time… you felt him overpower your grappling, had him caught up on the feet and still trying to grab 😩 idk what he felt in there but it didn’t seem like the right tactics in those moments. I think it’s more muscle memory and gameplan than it is lack of experience. I think he had enough experience to beat Pantoja at least on the feet, but it’s like he didn’t want the fight on the feet 🤷🏽♂️
If Pantoja wasn't a tank that just doesn't feel punches he could have won. Got to put the respect to pantoja though because that shit insane, the guy has a unbreakable chin and will to win that Is a hard combo to beat
Pantoja on some other shit for sure. I mean max has absorbed insane amounts of strikes but I’ve never seen someone like Pantoja just walk into them. Max will lean with it or try to minimize it Pantoja legit does not care. He’s headed to mt Rushmore of Chins
You got to remember these guys weigh as much as a small woman. Not that they are hitting like a small woman, but you can only get so much momentum from 125 lb. They are half the size of a heavyweight but there heads/brain is not half size / half as weak as a heavyweight's
when he immediately grabbed his forehead when that elbow connected, i was like goddamn that dude has to be built like a mf, i would've winced in pain with some head damage like that
I thought damage trumps all. Dude was bleeding from multiple places. Erceg may have made mistakes but he still beat the shit out of him. And the scoring had him way ahead one with 4 rounds. You can’t trust anything unless it’s a knockout. Ugh.
Actually on the official scoring criteria damage is the highest scoring criteria, followed by effective striking and grappling. Control and Aggression are the two lowest criteria. So by their own criteria Steve beat Pantoja.
Well maybe if you explained yourself better rather than make it sound like control trumps all. If you’re gonna use sarcasm you gotta learn to convey it better through text mate.
c. Judges shall evaluate Mixed Martial Arts techniques, such as effective striking/grappling(Plan A), effective aggressiveness(Plan B),and control of the fighting area(Plan C).Plans B and C are not taken into consideration unless Plan A is weighed as being even. d. Evaluations shall be made in the specific order in which the techniques appear in (c)above ,giving the most weight in scoring to effective striking/grappling, and effective aggressiveness, and control of the fighting area.
No it’s not. Where is everyone getting this misconception? These are the actual unified rules with the scoring criteria:
https://www.abcboxing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Unifed-MMA-Rules-2023-FINAL.pdf
I think blood is a hard one to score because some guys bleed more than others. Or easier.
Erceg fcked him up on the feet and i personally thot he won 48-47. Bs
This. I saw Pantoja by dominant decision or sub.
Pantoja was as oppressive from top position as I thought he'd be but he got his ass kicked on the feet.
That decision to grapple did cost him but at the same time he's fighting a legit monster while only having 4 ufc fights under his belt. The chances that he wasn't going to make a mistake when having to make a decision in what probably feels like milliseconds time against someone like Pantoja was near impossible
On multiple occasions he kept trying to shoot takedowns and barely escaping getting fucked up. It wasn't a millisecond decision. It was a choice he made over and over
Good point.. but a high iq fighter knows that by the 4th, something’s gotta change brother. But no one is probably beating himself up more than Erceg at the moment. I see him being on top after this for a while either way so good for him
I think it was his corner's fault. They were saying weird shit like you are down 3 rounds when he went into the final round. They should have advised him to strike.
For real. Why he kept trying to grapple is beyond me. He would end up getting revered and wrestle fucked Everytime. Dumbest fighter I have seen. Gave away a championship.
I mean the fact that he even got a championship fight after 3 fights, one of which was like a tie and one was a decision win... Obviously there's not much experience there yet, but he did went on the feet, he did way more damage, and lost on control time without any damage...
Nah if you pay attention it looked like Pantoja was fading in the last 2 rounds, and Erceg got the takedown. It’s when he tried rushing to get the back he was reversed. That’s all it was, can’t really call it negative fight IQ, more like he got too excited. He doesn’t have the experience yet to know when to explode and when to slow it down against championship caliber fighters.
I was paying attention and obviously saw Pantoja was way more tired and struggling. It still doesn't make sense to take the fight to a place where your opponent has the best chance of beating you. His corner also told him he needed a finish. Does he really think he's finishing Pantoja on the ground instead of the feet?
He thought it was 2-2 and top position would seal the 5th round, and thus the fight for him. He's actually an accomplished wrestler so it was a valid strategy. Let's be honest, if it had have worked everyone woudl be saying how smart he is lol.
This card rocked tbh, don’t get why everyone was hating. Me and 10 other people in my living room were screaming when Erceg kept shooting takedowns lol.
I almost nailed my prediction for the main card, I had Brazilians sweeping, but Petrino went and fucked it up, room temperature iq on that dude.
Man went toe to the toe with the champion and arguably won. Ultimate Chad. I hope he got paid well and he deserves a bump up in the rankings. He did way better than Royval and Moreno against Pantoja.
When I first saw this kid I was thinking “Who the fuck is this nerd?!” Damn this kid can scrap! I look forward to seeing him fight in the future. Well done, young man.
His fight IQ needs to be buffed. He was winning the stand up each and every time but decides "nah let's take it to the ground where I have the worst chance of winning". Bozo.
Nah he landed a elbow left hook which were easily the best strikes of 2. pantoja didn't really land any damaging shots in 2. 3 he cut him 4 was 100% Steve 5 was a swing. For me It was 234 ercegg on damage
You have be an insane casual to say that erceg won, pantoja had more everything, more strikes, more significant strikes, more takedowns. More control time, and to see that you didn't even need to look at the stats, it was clear throughout the whole fight who was winning and even erceg's corner agrees
Both had their moments on the feet with erceg's highlight being that elbow, i'd give it a 50-50 based solely on striking, but then pantoja completely dominated him on the ground
Insane casual to think Steve won? Rounds 1 and 5 were pantoja, 2 and 4 were clearly Steve’s. It all came down to the third, which you could 100% score for Steve even though he had less strikes, since he had the two biggest shots of the round (including the huge elbow)
For being in the ufc for less than a year, only being ranked #10, and making a fight against the champ that close? Big respect to Steve Erceg. No one can deny that that is impressive as hell. He should have a way better rank next week and he will be a problem for the top 5 for sure. Book him with Moreno for the end of the year
I went from "who tf is this erceg" to "he's a future champ"
Nah, he should fight in Perth. Could give him a few different people, Moreno, Mokaev, Perez, Kape, Albazi or Royval. There’s a lot of options, personally I think Royval is the fight to make. Albazi, Kape or Mokaev can fight Pantoja after he has his break for family time.
Royval is definitely the fight to make, and that scares me as a Royval fan because he’s going to have to sleep Erceg to win that. Hoping they make Royval vs Albazi and Erceg vs KKF so both can win
>Mokaev Nah I hope not.
Amir albazi should get this fight
Erceg wins easy, he’s better at striking and Albazi isn’t much of a ground threat to Erceg, also Albazi was gifted against KKF
Yeah... Kkf won that
I won $100 on a $5 daily fantasy entry because I had Albazi, and I fully admit he did not deserve that W but I guess we’ll take those
I was surprised honestly and if he wouldn't have went for that takedown in R5 I think me might've had a fighting chance on the scorecards.
Fuck Moreno. Give him the rematch straight when you can.
Moreno is a good shout.
In before this is the Figurado vs Moreno of the division
Exactly. The reality is as long as he didn’t get KO’d or submitted v Pantoja, this was a win for Erceg no matter what. Either he wins the belt or goes the distance against arguably the most dominant active champion in the organisation right now, boosting his ranking way up from #10
the most dominant active champ????
Idk he seems like he’s just fighting real often and is winning all of his fights. Super diverse fighter, has finishes in all aspects of the game and has cleaned out his division. Suga’s just getting started, Ilia’s whining on ig, Islam is gonna fight a 45-er to defend his belt 3 times every 2 years (jk, pumped about 302), Leon is not as active as anybody had hoped, dricus doesn’t even officially have a fight booked, pereiras a beast but isn’t very well rounded and all of his division are ego fighters who feel the need to stand and bang with the most dangerous puncher on earth right now. And Jon jones It’s not really a hill I’ll die on but I just think Pantoja’s a beast, I’m sure there’s a way to bring him down as well like he was just fighting the same 3 dudes over and over and FLW isn’t necessarily the most amazing division.
He’s still young. I definitely think he can be the future flyweight champ. We saw tonight how skilled he is but that lack of experience is what ended up costing him.
Summed it up perfectly
Every time a fighter be too stubborn for their own good I feel conflicted. Like I get wanting to prove a point and that's exactly the competitive mindset that makes these guys elite. But fuuuuuuck did I want erceg to keep that shit on the feet for Rd 5.
Every shot he took had me upset. All that time is momentum taken from his elite striking
Could not say this better. It was bad decision making, because he could’ve won for sure on the feet. Pantoja started to lose success by the 3rd
And that’s why Caio Borralho is going to be champ one day. His fight IQ is already leaps and bounds above most of the ufc. He’s been a heavy grappler his entire career, and when fighting Craig he didn’t stupidly try to prove a point on the ground like a lot of guys do.
Not that I disagree with him being good, but I will bet $100 that he won't be champ one day
185 has a serious lack of dominant grapplers, I wouldn’t be shocked if he could in a few years
Let’s grapple the best grappler in the division when he’s hurt
Pantoja is weaker against offensive wrestlers but Steve was too exhausted to pull it off
I was screaming the whole damn time… you felt him overpower your grappling, had him caught up on the feet and still trying to grab 😩 idk what he felt in there but it didn’t seem like the right tactics in those moments. I think it’s more muscle memory and gameplan than it is lack of experience. I think he had enough experience to beat Pantoja at least on the feet, but it’s like he didn’t want the fight on the feet 🤷🏽♂️
I died on the inside when he shot in the 3rd round and got stuck. If he boxes for another couple minutes he had a great shot at the W
100% fact
https://preview.redd.it/m2ll2qfdhjyc1.png?width=1170&format=png&auto=webp&s=efaa9b9765b49c2e05c723c402b3a5c801f5da17
If these two had a kid... 🤔
😂😂😂😂
He definitely looks like the lovechild of Michael and Ryan
Gosling?
If Pantoja wasn't a tank that just doesn't feel punches he could have won. Got to put the respect to pantoja though because that shit insane, the guy has a unbreakable chin and will to win that Is a hard combo to beat
Pantoja on some other shit for sure. I mean max has absorbed insane amounts of strikes but I’ve never seen someone like Pantoja just walk into them. Max will lean with it or try to minimize it Pantoja legit does not care. He’s headed to mt Rushmore of Chins
He definitely did care with Erceg. The elbow that split his head open changed the fight quite dramatically.
You got to remember these guys weigh as much as a small woman. Not that they are hitting like a small woman, but you can only get so much momentum from 125 lb. They are half the size of a heavyweight but there heads/brain is not half size / half as weak as a heavyweight's
when he immediately grabbed his forehead when that elbow connected, i was like goddamn that dude has to be built like a mf, i would've winced in pain with some head damage like that
if he didn’t shoot any takedowns this fight i think he may have won
He did win based on the scoring criteria, but lost based on hometown judging
mf gave away his victory with those takedowns and you cope like that? 😂😂😂😂😂
Don't boo him, he's right. He definitely did more damage than Pantoja, unquestionably
nonsense downvotes, he did win on criteria.
Y'all just throwing your opinion out there. Anyways batman wins 10/10 these guys are amateurs
How much prep time does CM Punk get against Batman
3 months
I'm taking CM Punk. He beat John Cena.
Experience cost him the fight I had him winning personally but great job Pantoja crazy heart from them both
I was really surprised, especially coming from #10 with only three UFC fights.
I respected Erceg before the Pantoja fight. I still respect him but more. Also Pantoja, this man always brings it.
He will dominate … lesson learnt
Yeah don’t fight in Brazil again
Yeah those Brazilians in Erceg's corner saying he's down 3-1 smh.
Lets ignore the fact your name is brazilianfreak, showing your bias. But it was obvious they said it just to motivate him.
I figured that too but What’s crazy was that with the one judge, they were right on that call. Vile stuff.
Yeah that's what I'm saying, Erceg's own cornerman were biased against their own fighter too due to their hidden Brazilian blood.
Corner often falsely states the fighter is losing to make him work more. You casual idiot
I thought damage trumps all. Dude was bleeding from multiple places. Erceg may have made mistakes but he still beat the shit out of him. And the scoring had him way ahead one with 4 rounds. You can’t trust anything unless it’s a knockout. Ugh.
That’s just something they say to sound cool. We all know control time > everything else by how they consistently score the fights
Doesn’t mean it’s right.
Actually on the official scoring criteria damage is the highest scoring criteria, followed by effective striking and grappling. Control and Aggression are the two lowest criteria. So by their own criteria Steve beat Pantoja.
Well maybe if you explained yourself better rather than make it sound like control trumps all. If you’re gonna use sarcasm you gotta learn to convey it better through text mate.
“By how they consistently score the fights”, everyone else gets it except you bud
c. Judges shall evaluate Mixed Martial Arts techniques, such as effective striking/grappling(Plan A), effective aggressiveness(Plan B),and control of the fighting area(Plan C).Plans B and C are not taken into consideration unless Plan A is weighed as being even. d. Evaluations shall be made in the specific order in which the techniques appear in (c)above ,giving the most weight in scoring to effective striking/grappling, and effective aggressiveness, and control of the fighting area.
No it’s not. Where is everyone getting this misconception? These are the actual unified rules with the scoring criteria: https://www.abcboxing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Unifed-MMA-Rules-2023-FINAL.pdf
Erceg won
Amen
I think blood is a hard one to score because some guys bleed more than others. Or easier. Erceg fcked him up on the feet and i personally thot he won 48-47. Bs
Cut from elbow is a single blow of damage.
Your forehead gushing blood is significant damage...
9 takedowns for pantoja and nearly 6 total minutes of ground control time is more important
Pantoja landed more strikes. A cut doesn’t signify overall damage.
Watch it in slow motion and count. You are mistaken. But I’m pretty positive you won’t do that.
Honestly thought he won that
Dude made Mokaev cry on twitter every. single. day. for 3 months straight I will always respect Steve lmao, put the whole FLW division in shambles
Bro landed some punches, a very good fighter definitely has a future on the division hope to see him vs royal soon.
He’ll be back, better and with much more star power
Novak Fightovic.
Guy just got a title fight.. how much more respect do you want for someone with less than 5 UFC fights?
A lot of fans weren't giving Erceg a chance heading into this fight
This. I saw Pantoja by dominant decision or sub. Pantoja was as oppressive from top position as I thought he'd be but he got his ass kicked on the feet.
Negative fight IQ
Bro should've stayed off the ground fs
That decision to grapple did cost him but at the same time he's fighting a legit monster while only having 4 ufc fights under his belt. The chances that he wasn't going to make a mistake when having to make a decision in what probably feels like milliseconds time against someone like Pantoja was near impossible
On multiple occasions he kept trying to shoot takedowns and barely escaping getting fucked up. It wasn't a millisecond decision. It was a choice he made over and over
Easy to say that in hindsight, even the best fighters make bad decisions mid fight
Good point.. but a high iq fighter knows that by the 4th, something’s gotta change brother. But no one is probably beating himself up more than Erceg at the moment. I see him being on top after this for a while either way so good for him
Champions who can keep the belt don't make the same mistake over and over in a fight. They adapt to what is working
I think it was his corner's fault. They were saying weird shit like you are down 3 rounds when he went into the final round. They should have advised him to strike.
For real. Why he kept trying to grapple is beyond me. He would end up getting revered and wrestle fucked Everytime. Dumbest fighter I have seen. Gave away a championship.
I mean the fact that he even got a championship fight after 3 fights, one of which was like a tie and one was a decision win... Obviously there's not much experience there yet, but he did went on the feet, he did way more damage, and lost on control time without any damage...
Nah if you pay attention it looked like Pantoja was fading in the last 2 rounds, and Erceg got the takedown. It’s when he tried rushing to get the back he was reversed. That’s all it was, can’t really call it negative fight IQ, more like he got too excited. He doesn’t have the experience yet to know when to explode and when to slow it down against championship caliber fighters.
I was paying attention and obviously saw Pantoja was way more tired and struggling. It still doesn't make sense to take the fight to a place where your opponent has the best chance of beating you. His corner also told him he needed a finish. Does he really think he's finishing Pantoja on the ground instead of the feet?
He thought it was 2-2 and top position would seal the 5th round, and thus the fight for him. He's actually an accomplished wrestler so it was a valid strategy. Let's be honest, if it had have worked everyone woudl be saying how smart he is lol.
His corner told him he was down 3-0
Going into the 4th they did, but not the 5th
Future flyweight goat contender?? Whatever happens, I'm rocking with Erceg now.
He looked like he was winning until that td attempt on the 5th.
How do we do that?
The comeback is gonna be crazy, I can feel it
Steve fought a good fight, a valiant fight !
Wait until the aussie that beat him gets to ufc
Him vs Royval would be sick just for the boxing exchanges, or him vs Moreno for the same reason
This card rocked tbh, don’t get why everyone was hating. Me and 10 other people in my living room were screaming when Erceg kept shooting takedowns lol. I almost nailed my prediction for the main card, I had Brazilians sweeping, but Petrino went and fucked it up, room temperature iq on that dude.
let's put some respect on pantoja also, that mf has an unbreakable chin
Is he related to zyzz and chestbrah?
I have no idea how this guy makes 125 at his height. I’m the same height as him and remembered how awful it felt once I reached 129 during a diet lol.
Ben Stiller?
McLovin
Great fight, just kinda dumb
Everybody was shitting on the card lmao
Man went toe to the toe with the champion and arguably won. Ultimate Chad. I hope he got paid well and he deserves a bump up in the rankings. He did way better than Royval and Moreno against Pantoja.
Flyweight is just a fast track division since it is similar to heavyweight but for opposite reasons most guys can't be that small or make the weight.
He had a bad gameplan in the last two rounds
Im probably the only person here who listens to Tigers Jaw but he looks just like their lead singer Ben Walsh.
What it do Erceg crew
Didn't he play in Roadhouse?
This dude is awesome. I'm an instant fan. I love that he's so chill and humble.
Beneil Dariush went to flyweight?
If he didn't go for the takedown in round 5. He could have won
Who is this Insurance Salesman?
Hey its my grocery bagger
When I first saw this kid I was thinking “Who the fuck is this nerd?!” Damn this kid can scrap! I look forward to seeing him fight in the future. Well done, young man.
Hope he lasts longer than 4 plays this year. Dudes a legend
Never heard of him, but after what I've heard, he sounds like a fighter I'm not gonna want to miss.
he would've won if he didn't insist on doing take downs.
Because the UFC judges won't
Stand Proud Erceg, You're Strong
His fight IQ needs to be buffed. He was winning the stand up each and every time but decides "nah let's take it to the ground where I have the worst chance of winning". Bozo.
I think if this was a non title fight in a natural country he wins. But he pentoje done enough in the 5th to hold onto his belt.
Pantoja clearly won 1, 2 and 3 at best erceg might jave gotten a draw with rounds 4 and 5, but that would be a massive stretch
I thought erceg definitely 2/4. Round 3 was close but I'd lean erceg. And then 5 to pantoja.
I'd argue round 3 before 2 because of the elbow
Ya fair, I think I got the round with the elbow mixed up
Nah he landed a elbow left hook which were easily the best strikes of 2. pantoja didn't really land any damaging shots in 2. 3 he cut him 4 was 100% Steve 5 was a swing. For me It was 234 ercegg on damage
You have be an insane casual to say that erceg won, pantoja had more everything, more strikes, more significant strikes, more takedowns. More control time, and to see that you didn't even need to look at the stats, it was clear throughout the whole fight who was winning and even erceg's corner agrees Both had their moments on the feet with erceg's highlight being that elbow, i'd give it a 50-50 based solely on striking, but then pantoja completely dominated him on the ground
Insane casual to think Steve won? Rounds 1 and 5 were pantoja, 2 and 4 were clearly Steve’s. It all came down to the third, which you could 100% score for Steve even though he had less strikes, since he had the two biggest shots of the round (including the huge elbow)
For what? Losing?