Steve Erceg can look back at his first championship fight under the UFC spotlight with pride as he took the champ Alexandre Pantoja all five rounds.
Prior to the UFC 301 main event, many fans criticized that Erceg jumped the line and didn’t deserve a title shot.
On Saturday those critics were silenced by a top performance worthy of being called a title challenger. Unfortunately Steve Erceg didn’t see what we all witnessed.
Steve Erceg gave his all and should be proud of the performance he put on, all the while fighting in enemy territory. The pressure that was put on Erceg for sure made a diamond inside the Octagon.
During his post-fight interview, Erceg told Daniel Cormier that he felt he “blew It” at UFC 301.
Steve Erceg Talks UFC 301 Defeat to Alexandre Pantoja
“I thought that if I could win the last round at least, I’d give myself a chance,” Steve Erceg said in his post-fight interview, “I just blew it.”
Steve Erceg thought that after the third round that is where he felt that the fight could come down to the wire.
“I thought the third [round], I think it was the third that was close enough, like he got me down a couple times but there was no real control, and I got up and beat him on the feet,” Erceg said.
Erceg let fight fans know that there was one area in the fight that the champ Pantoja caught him off guard.
“I was surprised how well he could scramble,” Steve Erceg continued in his post-fight speech, “I usually beat guys there. It was a shock.”
One thing is for sure, Erceg can hold his head up high after UFC 301 knowing that the world was impressed with his performance in Rio.
Do you feel that the UFC should run back Erceg vs. Pantoja for part two? Or does Erceg need one more fight to get back to fighting for the title?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
