Steve
Erceg represents a rare breed of competitor in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship—those who have had their case at
a title shot expedited.
Erceg travels into hostile territory to take on
Alexandre
Pantoja for the undisputed flyweight championship in the
UFC
301 headliner this Saturday at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
Although only three fights deep into his UFC run, “Astro Boy” has
demonstrated a stellar ability to impose his skills on his
opponents. Throughout his three wins in the Las Vegas-based
promotion and the other experiences he accumulated outside the UFC,
he has never tested his mettle in championship rounds. Will that be
an impingement on the challenge he presents to Pantoja? Time could
soon tell. Regardless, the Australian plans to keep the ball
rolling on his 11-fight winning streak and capture the flyweight
title in the process.
Ahead of Erceg’s forthcoming battle with Pantoja, here are five
things you might not know about the 28-year-old Aussie:
1. A crossover star served as his inspiration.
Unlike several fighters who were inspired by the rise of the likes
of
Royce
Gracie or
Mark Coleman,
Erceg grew up a professional wrestling fan. He discovered mixed
martial arts when
Brock
Lesnar, the former UFC heavyweight champ, crossed over from the
WWE to the world’s premier MMA organization. Lesnar’s shift to the
UFC indubitably grabbed a lot of eyeballs, and Erceg was among many
who were naturally drawn to the heavyweight star’s fight against
Frank
Mir at
UFC
81. He spoke about the paradigm shift that the fight fomented
in his perspective in an interview with UFC.com. “When the fight
started, Brock was giving him a bit of a whooping, and then out of
nowhere, Frank grabbed his foot, twisted his ankle and Brock has to
give up. Seeing a bigger guy get tapped by a smaller guy intrigued
me, as a naturally smaller person, into learning what the hell
happened. From then, I knew I at least wanted to learn what was
going on in there, and I asked my dad to find a gym as quickly as
he could.”
2. Many heroes have driven his ambition.
Erceg has a legion of heroes he looked up to as an aspiring martial
artist. Interestingly, in hindsight, the upcoming pay-per-view
spectacle must feel like a “life has come full circle” moment for
“Astro Boy,” who looked up to
Jose Aldo as
an inspiration. Now, he is gearing up to headline the UFC 301 card
that also features Aldo’s comeback from retirement. “Aldo was one
of my favorite fighters. My coach was a big leg kicker, so any time
there was someone—like
Thiago
Alves—that was a big leg kicker, I was just drawn to them. Josa
Aldo was a big one.” The Australian also took inspiration from the
careers of
Floyd
Mayweather Jr. and
Muhammad
Ali. However, he mentioned Roy Jones Jr. as his favorite
fighter in terms of pure combat.
3. He sharpens his tools while drawing wisdom from his
peers.
For many fighters, putting a fellow competitor on a pedestal has
proved to be difficult considering the ego deflation and the
humility imposition that comes with it. In Erceg’s case, he does
not shy away from giving his fellow fighters their merited props.
He holds several current fighters in high regard. “Definitely, now,
Alexander
Volkanovski. I don’t like to say it because I don’t like being
a fanboy in front of people, but when I went to Perth, just to see
the way he carried himself … He fought
Islam
Makhachev, who was just revered as one of the toughest
lightweights in the world, and he went up, took on the challenge
and put on the performance he put up; and we had the crowd there,
and I just like the way he carries himself, the way he fights. He’s
definitely a big inspiration.”
4. His nickname has unexpected origins.
A good moniker is the extension of self-expression for many
fighters, and it is a preview of their fighting style for many
others. In Erceg’s case, the “Astro Boy” nickname was simply a ring
that hit the right note when his coach’s ex-girlfriend suggested
the idea. Former welterweight title challenger
Stephen
Thompson’s sobriquet “Wonderboy” was the original inspiration
for it. “We were brainstorming stuff, and I brought up ‘Wonderboy’
because
Stephen
Thompson has the same name, so I was like, ‘Oh, ‘Wonderboy.’
What about that?’ My coach’s ex-girlfriend said, ‘Oh, what about
‘Astro Boy?’ You kind of look like him.’ That’s literally it.”
5. He has a life outside the Octagon.
Before he started competing professionally, Erceg spent time
teaching martial arts as an instructor. He has a black belt in
Brazilian jiu-jitsu and claims that guillotine choke is his
favorite grappling technique.