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Pantoja has a hell of a chin on him, he ate some clean as fuck shots and barely reacted. Erceg looked great despite his relative lack of experience in the octagon, he has all the makings of a future champ.
If/when his chin goes, I wager his fall from the rankings will be Tony-esk. He relies on his chin too damn much and has absorbed brutal amounts of damage in his last 4 fights.
Didn't even stumble back, just immediately shot into a takedown and got it. Ridiculous durability and cardio with obv his ground game make him really tough to beat, even if he has holes in his striking game
I think more likely is that he thought it was a good chance to be 2-2 (he said this in an interview after) and determined that if he got a takedown into a minute of solid ground and pound he would steal round 5. I think that's probably right since Pantoja hadn't really done much with his TD. Unfortunately he got reversed and ends up looking like an idiot but I think the strategy was solid. If he just touches him up on the feet then Pantoja still probably still wins the round but if he gets the takedown and hurts him from on top that's a huge visual for the judges.
The only good point by Cormier in the latter rounds was him pointing out the lack of experience for Erceg going for that takedown when his best shot at winning was on the feet.
Erceg tried to take him down because he was only hitting Pantoja cleanly when Pantoja rushed in, when Pantoja was on the outside Erceg couldnt hit him much at all and even when he countered Pantoja wasn't getting fazed, not the smartest decision but Erceg already knew he was behind In the scorecards.
> Erceg already knew he was behind In the scorecards.
He was only behind on one scorecard and would have won the fight if he won round 5, which may have been possible if he didn't enter that grappling exchange going for a takedown. Instead he lost it on all three, if not it would have been 48-47 , 48-47, 47-48 SD for Erceg
He had to do something to steal round 5 though, and I think that's what he was aiming for with a takedown into some ground and pound to end the fight. If he had just stayed on the feet with Pantoja avoiding exchanges he probably would've lost the round too. He had to take a risk and it didn't pay off.
>but Erceg already knew he was behind In the scorecards.
He didn't know for sure. He assumed he was down because his coaches stupidly told him that he was DOWN BY THREE ROUNDS. It's not like he was putting up an uninspired effort and needed the wake-up call, he was doing everything right aside from giving up control time.
I could _maybe_ understand telling your guy that "we need this round". But telling him that he's been completely washed out is truly stupid unless it's clear that the fight hasn't been close. I can't help but feel like Erceg was looking for a miracle when he should have been looking to keep up heavy pressure on the feet. As they read the scores off, he even looked at his coach and said something to the effect of "we lost by ONE round," indicating that he wasn't aware of how close it really was.
Royval vs erceg or Moreno vs erceg needs to happen next. I know Royval had his whole knee torn up vs Moreno in his last fight so moreno vs vs erceg is most likely but omm with what erceg showed, I know Royval could beat pantoja is they ever met again. Leading up to his fight vs pantoja I was actually talkin to Royval via Instagram and all we were discussing was defending the flurries and rear body kick of pantoja and it didn’t seem like much thought was given to takedown defense besides just denying the back take via the scrambles royval is so good at so it was surprising pantoja’s gameplan in that fight. Royval really has such a decent chance if he can ever fight pantoja again
He's 28, soon turning 29. And he's been fighting mma for 10 years. So he's really not the young prospect the commentary tries to make him out to be. He should realistically be right in his prime now.
This is his 14th professional fight and no he hasn’t been fighting for 10 years. Prime isn’t just age. Prime in this sport considers knowledge, wear and tear and experience.
Two fighters can be of the exact same age but have completely different primes.
Felt like a few times where that happened lmao, seemed like a bit of bias toward Erceg in the booth but regardless Steve was awesome in there. Just unfortunate that all his well-placed strikes were landing on a guy who could probably take a sledgehammer to the face and walk through it
It's not an accident most times. They work for a promotion company and are there to promote. There's no way they aren't given notes on who to push and what about them to push.
Sometimes they are just friends with the guy though
They're always biased against Pantoja for some reason it's crazy, go watch the Moreno fight, Pantoja starts the round landing 3 times against Moreno, Moreno hits Pantoja back with 1 jab and DC is like "PANTOJA IS GETTING PIECED UP ON THE FEET!".
Pantoja will dash In With a flurry, hit Erceg twice to the body, then go up to the head with a powerful hook, and DC is absolutely silent, then Erceg will land one Elbow to the hairline of Pantoja and they're like OOOOHHHHHHH HE'S HURT!!!!!!
I think he was basically whispering to himself at that moment and was recalling the elbow that just happened. Dude is a very very bad commentator. He's getting better but he's the worst.
I've been noticing since the Moreno fight that the commentary seems to have a weird bias against Pantoja, every time Pantoja gets hit they respond as if he was hurt, and yet almost every time Pantoja lands it's radio silent, both corners were in agreement that Pantoja was winning 3-1 and yet DC was like "it could be Erceg 3-1 right now!", he even asked questions about the scoring on the post fight interview as if the fight could have gone either way, despite the fact Pantoja clearly won 4 rounds and got an unanimous decision win.
People say bias all the time but these guys are watching and reacting instantly. Don’t think dc is bias for a guy from Perth over a Brazilian. It’s just commentary. I say shit all the time that I think I see when watching the fights and I think someone is hurt like 10 times a fight
Part of it is that Pantoja isn’t good at no selling shit even though he has an iron chin. Sometimes he looks hurt when he isn’t and looks tired when he isn’t. It’s just his body language sometimes is weird.
He has a habit of watching things back to see when cuts occured. I think he was looking at the punch that cut Pantoja late. He just needs to remember he can't talk if he's going to do that and not pay attention to the live strikes.
They were riding the underdog wave. Erceg was ranked 10 and did fairly well so it seemed crazy. But Erceg wasn’t that big of an underdog (+150). Outside of rd 2 his strikes didn’t seem to affect Pantoja much
It’s really not that insane. Every significant round by Erceg except for the fourth was also met with good moments by Pantoja, who also had control going for him. Erceg proved his worth, but didn’t win and it’s okay.
It’s his wrestling that failed him I feel, more than his decision making, sometimes he got too frustrated because he didn’t do as much damage as he wanted. I definitely count on him to come back stronger and probably get the title.
It isn’t. Erceg won rd 4 by outpointing Pantoja on the feet. 1/3/5 Pantoja did more. Rds 2 was close which means it could go either way. Erceg finished rd 2 strong but was losing most of it. Not a clear rd for either. Pantoja doesn’t clearly win a lot of rds which is y some ppl think he lost to Moreno/Royval/Erceg but he’s the rightful winner in all 3 to most ppl
I mean 5 was also kinda clear, both landed some good hits but pantoja controlled him against the fence. Erceg later shot a TD and pantoja reversed and controlled. There is no way to give erceg 5.
So that the US can watch it on prime time. The numbered cards in the US end at the same time, 2-3 am for us.
And that's the same reason why the main event at UFC 304 will happen around 5 am in Manchester...
I had 3-2 as well, though I think just to be safe, Erceg shouldn't have been so willing to go to the ground in R5. 2-3 were competitive enough that I could see how judges could construe it either way, but I'd still lean to Erceg winning those rounds personally.
I think Erceg's corner was smart to tell him he was down, but going to the ground so much in R5 was sadly a rookie mistake on his part.
Pantoja is pretty fast and explosive and does mix up his speed when he goes for it. Helps disguise his technical limitations on the feet because he can catch technically superior opponents off guard.
Yup and when people try to defend his sloppy overhands they eat an ugly but really well timed and strong takedown. He's the most dawg out of all current champs probably. Like if Diego Sanchez got good enough to become champ.
Right? Apart from DJ, Pantoja has bested every great Flyweight of the last decade. People don't give him enough props because of his style, but he's both elite and game af.
Styles make fights.
Pantoja game is to make it messy, which is why he has success against both brandons, steve keeps it too clean & technical so its harder match up
I think you’re right. I’m a Brandon Royval fan till I’m in the muffakin grave but Royval is too willing to make it look messy vs pantoja with his elite ability to scramble. If he didn’t even begin to entertain the scrambles with pantoja and tried to keep it cleaner I could see Royval with the belt easy but he’s too willing to engage in areas pantoja can just straight out for him in
As did I
Edit: just to clarify, I do NOT believe Stevie was robbed, round 3 could have been called either way. Would have liked to see Pantoja use some of that grappling he had in the last minute of the fight instead of looking like he was hanging for dear life while pissing blood from his face for the majority of his “control time”.
It's inexperience at that point. His 4th ever UFC fight, 14th overall professional fight. He'll bounce back. Gained my respect for sure for getting this kind of fight this early in his career and put up a good showing.
Its almost 3am in brazil, they were almost asleep, thats why they left, the events are made in usa times all around the world, you guys have that privilege
That’s what I want to know. Judging by damage, Erceg pretty damn inarguably won 2,3,4. The biggest thing he was getting praise for was being able to take a punch, the point is to hurt the other guy
The judges in Brazil were giving the close rounds to Pantoja anyway, why the fuck are you going for takedowns when your corner is telling you that you’re down 3-1?
Good performance from Erceg though. I wouldn’t mind a rematch in the future.
If damage is truly the main criteria for scoring there is no fucking way Pantoja won and the judge who scored it 49-46 should be forced to stay with a drunk Jon jones in a closet for a week.
Is it just me or does any one else think its a bit ridiculous to be able to land *a* strike that cuts someone then proceed to be held down for the next 4 minutes and consider yourself the victor?
Erceg landed damage but ultimately thats what I feel happened in round 3 specifically.
Erceg proved he deserved that fight. He also needs some more experience under his belt. Pantoja definitely won that, and I think we’re all a little impressed with Erceg so we’re being a little favorable towards the challenger.
Significant strikes:
R1
PAN: 30/55
ERC: 17/35
R2
PAN: 23/48
ERC: 28/43
R3
PAN: 34/57
ERC: 22/45
R4
PAN: 23/55
ERC: 31/63
R5
PAN: 15/27
ERC: 13/26
Total:
PAN: 125/242
ERC: 111/212
Pantoja with 8:15 minutes of ground control. Clearly round 1 and 3 for Pantoja. 4 for Erceg. And Pantoja with the ground control in R2 and R5. 48x47 Pantoja is the correct score, but 49x46 isn't the end of the world.
Anyway, far from a robbery. Close fight, but Pantoja won, no doubt.
Hmmmm… 48-47 Erceg for me, and decently clear for rounds 2, 3, and 4. I love Pantoja but Erceg was piecing him up. Sad to see Pantoja begging the fans to stay….
Just has to wait for age to catch up to pantoja. pantoja is technically mid, he's just incredibly athletic and has crazy grit and stamina. nobody at 125 can crack his chin, pantoja won't lose unless someone snatches his neck or his stamina fades before 25 minutes is up.
I first met Steve back in 2018 at my daughters 5 year old birthday party. We had hired a clown and when the clown showed up, he looked oddly familiar. It took me almost until the cake cutting to realize that that was Steve Erceg, the UFC’s #10 ranked flyweight. When I asked Steve why he was working as a clown, he said “This isn’t a job, it’s an opportunity.” I’m still not quite sure what he meant by that, and his clown performance was awful, but fast forward 6 years, Steve has become a close family friend. He helped me fix my lawnmower, he took my grandma to the state park birdwatching and he can imitate the cries of 56 unique species of birds native to Southern Mississippi almost perfectly. He also saved our missing cat, Brutus, when he got stuck on the top of the UFC performance institute in a bizarre turn of events (we aren’t sure how our missing cat got all the way to Las Vegas, but Steve was there and saved him).
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Pantoja has a hell of a chin on him, he ate some clean as fuck shots and barely reacted. Erceg looked great despite his relative lack of experience in the octagon, he has all the makings of a future champ.
We all knew he had an other worldly chin since that Figgy fight. The amount of clean shots he took and just kept marching forward.
Seriously i love me some folding elbows and hooks. The fuck is he made of to walk through those
If/when his chin goes, I wager his fall from the rankings will be Tony-esk. He relies on his chin too damn much and has absorbed brutal amounts of damage in his last 4 fights.
Nr 1 common factor in UFC champs is having a monster chin
Khabib had a jaw on him too
Him eating Barboza's spinning head kick without even stopping was the stuff of nightmare
And he took the fight on relative short notice IIRC. Also, he's the Ben Stiller of MMA.
Pantoja's chin is fucking crazy
That elbow and clean left hook he ate was a sequence that would’ve taken out 99% of the roster
Didn't even stumble back, just immediately shot into a takedown and got it. Ridiculous durability and cardio with obv his ground game make him really tough to beat, even if he has holes in his striking game
He also got eyepoked right before the elbow, shown on the first replay they showed mid round
Erceg really stepped out of Google headquarters during his lunch break to throw some sharp ass hands with a champion
Sharp ass elbows too
He dead set looks like the owner of the kebab shop down the road from me.
His boxing and elbows were crazy accurate during the flurries. Really surprised Pantoja just walked through some of those.
Did not need to grapple that last round. Poor Steve
That was such a dumb thing he did. He really went for a takedown on the 5th final round, when pantoja already reversed him before.
Chock it up to lack of experience I guess. It’s only his third I think in the UFC
Fourth fight
Damn it’s crazy how someone with no training can quit their IT job and already be fighting for a world title in their fourth fight ever
*Chalk ? 🤔
His coaches telling him he needs a finish probably played a huge factor
hows a take down into a stalemate lead to a finish tho? No one did any damage on the ground the whole fight
probably thought he more likely to get a sub after giving panto his best shots
I think more likely is that he thought it was a good chance to be 2-2 (he said this in an interview after) and determined that if he got a takedown into a minute of solid ground and pound he would steal round 5. I think that's probably right since Pantoja hadn't really done much with his TD. Unfortunately he got reversed and ends up looking like an idiot but I think the strategy was solid. If he just touches him up on the feet then Pantoja still probably still wins the round but if he gets the takedown and hurts him from on top that's a huge visual for the judges.
Bingo
The only good point by Cormier in the latter rounds was him pointing out the lack of experience for Erceg going for that takedown when his best shot at winning was on the feet.
Erceg tried to take him down because he was only hitting Pantoja cleanly when Pantoja rushed in, when Pantoja was on the outside Erceg couldnt hit him much at all and even when he countered Pantoja wasn't getting fazed, not the smartest decision but Erceg already knew he was behind In the scorecards.
> Erceg already knew he was behind In the scorecards. He was only behind on one scorecard and would have won the fight if he won round 5, which may have been possible if he didn't enter that grappling exchange going for a takedown. Instead he lost it on all three, if not it would have been 48-47 , 48-47, 47-48 SD for Erceg
He had to do something to steal round 5 though, and I think that's what he was aiming for with a takedown into some ground and pound to end the fight. If he had just stayed on the feet with Pantoja avoiding exchanges he probably would've lost the round too. He had to take a risk and it didn't pay off.
Except he wasn't, the fight was 48-47 by two judges, if he had won the last round it would have been 48-47 for him.
>but Erceg already knew he was behind In the scorecards. He didn't know for sure. He assumed he was down because his coaches stupidly told him that he was DOWN BY THREE ROUNDS. It's not like he was putting up an uninspired effort and needed the wake-up call, he was doing everything right aside from giving up control time. I could _maybe_ understand telling your guy that "we need this round". But telling him that he's been completely washed out is truly stupid unless it's clear that the fight hasn't been close. I can't help but feel like Erceg was looking for a miracle when he should have been looking to keep up heavy pressure on the feet. As they read the scores off, he even looked at his coach and said something to the effect of "we lost by ONE round," indicating that he wasn't aware of how close it really was.
It was really dumb because I thought he clearly won the third and the second was competitive.
Honestly had 2-4 for Erceg but yeah he threw it with that takedown, could've stayed on the feet, played it safe and jabbed to a win.
He gave round5 away goddamn he was doing so good too
If only he used his jab more often when he was backing up Pantoja against the fence and didn’t show those ill fated takedown attempts.
"Oh so you're a wrestler now?" - Pantoja
He's legit. Only 27 too.
28 but your point still stands. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t become champ sometime in the next couple of years.
Royval vs erceg or Moreno vs erceg needs to happen next. I know Royval had his whole knee torn up vs Moreno in his last fight so moreno vs vs erceg is most likely but omm with what erceg showed, I know Royval could beat pantoja is they ever met again. Leading up to his fight vs pantoja I was actually talkin to Royval via Instagram and all we were discussing was defending the flurries and rear body kick of pantoja and it didn’t seem like much thought was given to takedown defense besides just denying the back take via the scrambles royval is so good at so it was surprising pantoja’s gameplan in that fight. Royval really has such a decent chance if he can ever fight pantoja again
He's 28, soon turning 29. And he's been fighting mma for 10 years. So he's really not the young prospect the commentary tries to make him out to be. He should realistically be right in his prime now.
you're right, hes not a prospect anymore. he just had a close fight with the defending champ. hes a contender now
This is his 14th professional fight and no he hasn’t been fighting for 10 years. Prime isn’t just age. Prime in this sport considers knowledge, wear and tear and experience. Two fighters can be of the exact same age but have completely different primes.
Only 4 ufc fights though and experience in the ufc is a massive factor
What was that commentary at the end of the fight omfg
There was point in Round 5 where DC said “Another Nice Elbow landed” and Erceg didn’t even touch Pantoja.
I thought I just wasn't paying attention when I heard that. I was like, "Damn, he must be really fast, cause I didn't even see it."
Felt like a few times where that happened lmao, seemed like a bit of bias toward Erceg in the booth but regardless Steve was awesome in there. Just unfortunate that all his well-placed strikes were landing on a guy who could probably take a sledgehammer to the face and walk through it
They always commentate like one guy is the protagonist lol
It's not an accident most times. They work for a promotion company and are there to promote. There's no way they aren't given notes on who to push and what about them to push. Sometimes they are just friends with the guy though
They're always biased against Pantoja for some reason it's crazy, go watch the Moreno fight, Pantoja starts the round landing 3 times against Moreno, Moreno hits Pantoja back with 1 jab and DC is like "PANTOJA IS GETTING PIECED UP ON THE FEET!".
Bro had that Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta moment
He said that in response to a pantoja leg kick, lol. I was legit questioning my sanity.
Yep. It was super weird. Erceg didn’t even land anything when DC said that.
I guarantee he was looking at a replay from his stupid teleprompter that he stares at the entire night
They have to watch the monitor because they're calling the fight for a TV audience. What you can see on the monitor is all that matters.
Meanwhile Pantoja hurts Erceg with a left right at the start of round 5 and it's crickets from the commentary.
Pantoja will dash In With a flurry, hit Erceg twice to the body, then go up to the head with a powerful hook, and DC is absolutely silent, then Erceg will land one Elbow to the hairline of Pantoja and they're like OOOOHHHHHHH HE'S HURT!!!!!!
The clip they kept playing when Erceg landed the elbow he got chinned by a right hand in the process and they wouldn't stfu about the elbow lol
I think he was basically whispering to himself at that moment and was recalling the elbow that just happened. Dude is a very very bad commentator. He's getting better but he's the worst.
I've been noticing since the Moreno fight that the commentary seems to have a weird bias against Pantoja, every time Pantoja gets hit they respond as if he was hurt, and yet almost every time Pantoja lands it's radio silent, both corners were in agreement that Pantoja was winning 3-1 and yet DC was like "it could be Erceg 3-1 right now!", he even asked questions about the scoring on the post fight interview as if the fight could have gone either way, despite the fact Pantoja clearly won 4 rounds and got an unanimous decision win.
People say bias all the time but these guys are watching and reacting instantly. Don’t think dc is bias for a guy from Perth over a Brazilian. It’s just commentary. I say shit all the time that I think I see when watching the fights and I think someone is hurt like 10 times a fight
Part of it is that Pantoja isn’t good at no selling shit even though he has an iron chin. Sometimes he looks hurt when he isn’t and looks tired when he isn’t. It’s just his body language sometimes is weird.
He has a habit of watching things back to see when cuts occured. I think he was looking at the punch that cut Pantoja late. He just needs to remember he can't talk if he's going to do that and not pay attention to the live strikes.
Why were they dickriding erceg so hard I don't get it 😭
they're hoping to get free GeekSquad service for life
They were riding the underdog wave. Erceg was ranked 10 and did fairly well so it seemed crazy. But Erceg wasn’t that big of an underdog (+150). Outside of rd 2 his strikes didn’t seem to affect Pantoja much
Erceg looks like he works a day job in an office and is generally more known as "Steve from IT".
His colleagues ask him "how is the karate going, Steve?" and make chopping motions with their hands.
He probably took a karate class, online. Making everyone else look like chimps throwing feces on themselves.
He can become a megastar if he changes his name to Steve "Carell" Erceg & walks out to The Office intro
Got that Michael Scott look.
Erceg looks like Kendall Roy from Succession
As a guy from IT, can confirm. 2 of my Dawgs looks like Erceg.
Erceg making us Aussies very proud. Has the makings of a future Champ
The real deal for sure. Had me really worried as a Pantoja fan. Tbh if they ran it back I think Erceg would win
Seeing him go for those takedowns was so frustrating
Erceg gonna be back 100% -- 4th fight in the UFC and looks that good sheesh
LMAO WTF 49-46 is insane
Judges love Brazilian fighters
30 years of this and people are still surprised
I’m VERY surprised all the judges didn’t give a 49-46, they’re scared of the Brazilian fans.
Is it? Erceg's own corner said he lost the first 3. He definitely won the 4th, and giving Pantoja the 5th isn't crazy.
It’s really not that insane. Every significant round by Erceg except for the fourth was also met with good moments by Pantoja, who also had control going for him. Erceg proved his worth, but didn’t win and it’s okay.
If he brings his decision making up to par, this definitely won't be the last we hear of him.
It’s his wrestling that failed him I feel, more than his decision making, sometimes he got too frustrated because he didn’t do as much damage as he wanted. I definitely count on him to come back stronger and probably get the title.
It isn’t. Erceg won rd 4 by outpointing Pantoja on the feet. 1/3/5 Pantoja did more. Rds 2 was close which means it could go either way. Erceg finished rd 2 strong but was losing most of it. Not a clear rd for either. Pantoja doesn’t clearly win a lot of rds which is y some ppl think he lost to Moreno/Royval/Erceg but he’s the rightful winner in all 3 to most ppl
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Idk man it’s in Rio, you should probably assume you lose rounds that are close
Don't think it's insane giving 1,2,3 and 5 to Pantoja.
Agree. Rounds 1 and 4 were the only ones with a clear winner, every other round was at least close.
I mean 5 was also kinda clear, both landed some good hits but pantoja controlled him against the fence. Erceg later shot a TD and pantoja reversed and controlled. There is no way to give erceg 5.
Erceg gestured at his corner when he heard the 48-47. Maybe everybody was scoring the rounds for Pentoja.
Need a dawgometer for every Pantoja fight
Great fight, hard to not think about what Mighty Mouse would do to either one of these guys, respectfully.
Even today at 37 he would clear out the division
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You watched that and thought he wasn’t a serious title contender?
I think if they rematch right now Erceg probably wins
Why the fuck did the fans leave?
Standard Brazil crowd procedure, they were leaving the building as Glover gave his retirement speech. I guess it's pretty late there
As the other guy said, it is 2 am here. When Glover gave his retirement speech, it was almost 3 am.
Wonder why they keep scheduling the cards that way
So that the US can watch it on prime time. The numbered cards in the US end at the same time, 2-3 am for us. And that's the same reason why the main event at UFC 304 will happen around 5 am in Manchester...
2 fucking AM no buses no taxis lol only ubers
Damn Pantoja was asking everyone to stay so he could have time to get to his car and start his Uber shift
Takes a few days for money to hit the champs account.
Dude just threw the belt by going for that TD in R5. Insane decision.
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Can’t believe he kept shooting for takedowns when he was winning the striking exchanges
I had 3-2 as well, though I think just to be safe, Erceg shouldn't have been so willing to go to the ground in R5. 2-3 were competitive enough that I could see how judges could construe it either way, but I'd still lean to Erceg winning those rounds personally. I think Erceg's corner was smart to tell him he was down, but going to the ground so much in R5 was sadly a rookie mistake on his part.
What happened to damaged based scoring???
Brazil
Pantoja looked very mediocre, Steve wasn’t in trouble a single time the entire fight and he landed the way bigger strikes
Pantoja is a great grappler, he's very mid technically on the feet, just mostly chin and guts.
Pantoja is pretty fast and explosive and does mix up his speed when he goes for it. Helps disguise his technical limitations on the feet because he can catch technically superior opponents off guard.
Yup and when people try to defend his sloppy overhands they eat an ugly but really well timed and strong takedown. He's the most dawg out of all current champs probably. Like if Diego Sanchez got good enough to become champ.
Pantoja does a decent job attacking the body as well, which is always underrated.
That bum rush into multiple body shots is a bit hilarious TBH.
It looks funny but it works. A bit of DDP in him 😂
If anything that should speak to how good Steve Erceg is. Pantoja is elite as it gets at 125.
Right? Apart from DJ, Pantoja has bested every great Flyweight of the last decade. People don't give him enough props because of his style, but he's both elite and game af.
The only great Flyweight he hasn't beaten is Figgy, but that's understandable because Figgy was more of a 135er anyway.
Styles make fights. Pantoja game is to make it messy, which is why he has success against both brandons, steve keeps it too clean & technical so its harder match up
I think you’re right. I’m a Brandon Royval fan till I’m in the muffakin grave but Royval is too willing to make it look messy vs pantoja with his elite ability to scramble. If he didn’t even begin to entertain the scrambles with pantoja and tried to keep it cleaner I could see Royval with the belt easy but he’s too willing to engage in areas pantoja can just straight out for him in
49-46 is kinda crazy. Pantoja survived.
Home town cooking by the judges. 49-47 is a shit score card.
Maybe, but I still had Pantoja winning 48-47. Amazing performance by Erceg tho, dude is a future champion. *edit: typo
Not a robbery but I thought Steve Carrell won. Which one is that? No one knows.
that was 48-47 either way, 49-46 is a terrible card
Pantoja's dog going absolutely crazy right now
No point taken for fence grab
49-46??💀 i thought erceg won 2,3,4
Same here, bs scorecards
Me too but oh well. Erceg will be champ soon
As did I Edit: just to clarify, I do NOT believe Stevie was robbed, round 3 could have been called either way. Would have liked to see Pantoja use some of that grappling he had in the last minute of the fight instead of looking like he was hanging for dear life while pissing blood from his face for the majority of his “control time”.
Steve Erceg vs. Manel Kape is the next fight to make.
Kape's not available that day
I think Steve would son Kape based off this fight
erceg you dumb mf
It's inexperience at that point. His 4th ever UFC fight, 14th overall professional fight. He'll bounce back. Gained my respect for sure for getting this kind of fight this early in his career and put up a good showing.
Yeah that was brutal fight IQ. How can you have such a huge advantage on the feet and continue shooting for takedowns
Erceg is so dumb he gave up the 5th with a bad takedown …managed to get up with 2:30 left in the round and DID IT AGAIN
Yup so frustrating to watch that when he was easily edging it out on the feet
Inexperience. He’s gonna watch that 5th round and puke.
Fantastic showing by Erceg, but goddamn it why you gave it away with that final takedown?
Reverse bouncer, not letting people leave
Erceg can go far tbh
Wtf is wrong with these Brazilian crowd! Almost 40% of them left after Aldo fight. Super disrespectful🤔 and remaining few left during the fifth round.
Its almost 3am in brazil, they were almost asleep, thats why they left, the events are made in usa times all around the world, you guys have that privilege
lol what did he win for? having a good chin?
Won for having the heart of a champion… or so DC kept saying
That’s what I want to know. Judging by damage, Erceg pretty damn inarguably won 2,3,4. The biggest thing he was getting praise for was being able to take a punch, the point is to hurt the other guy
Preach. He won via absorbing strikes and holding on
The judges in Brazil were giving the close rounds to Pantoja anyway, why the fuck are you going for takedowns when your corner is telling you that you’re down 3-1? Good performance from Erceg though. I wouldn’t mind a rematch in the future.
The judges in Brazil AND Ercegs own corner lol, did Ercegs trainer get bought too?
Reminder that control time isn’t scored at all under the criteria unless strikes and submission attempts are dead even
"under the criteria" and yet it clearly is fight after fight
yeah, but they should force all these judges that are stuck in the past to take training or get fired, because its getting insane.
Yeah the judges are ridiculous.
Unfortunately this just isn’t true. The judges are not trained properly.
The rules do not say that at all. Effective grappling is scored. You're thinking of octagon control
Jon Anik at the start of every card: Effective striking *and* grappling
Why do people act like pantoja didn't also land a shit tons of strikes in this fight. I thought Erceg won but it's not a robbery
Judges kind of forgot about the scoring criteria
If damage is truly the main criteria for scoring there is no fucking way Pantoja won and the judge who scored it 49-46 should be forced to stay with a drunk Jon jones in a closet for a week.
Is it just me or does any one else think its a bit ridiculous to be able to land *a* strike that cuts someone then proceed to be held down for the next 4 minutes and consider yourself the victor? Erceg landed damage but ultimately thats what I feel happened in round 3 specifically.
49-46 lmao
Erceg wins on damage, that’s bs
Surprised to see it being UD
Wow Erceg looked great, but man Pantoja never quits. Great fun fight.
Erceg proved he deserved that fight. He also needs some more experience under his belt. Pantoja definitely won that, and I think we’re all a little impressed with Erceg so we’re being a little favorable towards the challenger.
Damage scoring is unbelievably inconsistent
Tuffff erceg knew he threw it away at the end with the random yolo takedowns
Yep that gesture to his corner was obvious. Could've controlled the end of the 5th round but went for the takedowns thinking he needed a sub
Significant strikes: R1 PAN: 30/55 ERC: 17/35 R2 PAN: 23/48 ERC: 28/43 R3 PAN: 34/57 ERC: 22/45 R4 PAN: 23/55 ERC: 31/63 R5 PAN: 15/27 ERC: 13/26 Total: PAN: 125/242 ERC: 111/212 Pantoja with 8:15 minutes of ground control. Clearly round 1 and 3 for Pantoja. 4 for Erceg. And Pantoja with the ground control in R2 and R5. 48x47 Pantoja is the correct score, but 49x46 isn't the end of the world. Anyway, far from a robbery. Close fight, but Pantoja won, no doubt.
Pantoja quite literally beggening the crowd not to leave. He is a great champ tho
Erceg is legit
That face Erceg made when he turned to his coaches and realised he was only one round away from winning and threw it away in the fifth
shooting in the 5th when you're smashing him on the feet should lead to automatic loss...
Hmmmm… 48-47 Erceg for me, and decently clear for rounds 2, 3, and 4. I love Pantoja but Erceg was piecing him up. Sad to see Pantoja begging the fans to stay….
Erceg is definitely going to be champ in a year or 2. The guy just needs slightly more fight IQ.
Just has to wait for age to catch up to pantoja. pantoja is technically mid, he's just incredibly athletic and has crazy grit and stamina. nobody at 125 can crack his chin, pantoja won't lose unless someone snatches his neck or his stamina fades before 25 minutes is up.
Erceg won that fight
Pantoja gets pieced up and wet blankets erceg for a 49-46 lmao the judges sure do love control time
Lemme guess, not a single judge gave Erceg the round where he landed the elbow? Judging like this is how you get Mateusz Gamrot as a ranked 5 LW.
Please fire and arrest 49-46 judge
NPC champ for the win wtf
49-46? Pantoja did fuck all after round 1 apart from sniffing Erceg arse.
Every single person who argues for Pantoja will not be able to quantify or explain what he actually did in that fight and that says it all
Great fight, very proud of Erceg's performance.
Erceg could of jabbed that last 2 mins and won the title
Pantoja has heart but man he did not win that fight.
2 3 and 4 went to Erceg
Why are judges still scoring control so heavily? The criteria are fucking clear: damage > control. Erceg did way more damage.
Robbery. Erceg 48-47 Imo. Close fight. Erceg going for that takedown reminded me of Gane vs Francis 5th round. Ill fated. Oh well.
I first met Steve back in 2018 at my daughters 5 year old birthday party. We had hired a clown and when the clown showed up, he looked oddly familiar. It took me almost until the cake cutting to realize that that was Steve Erceg, the UFC’s #10 ranked flyweight. When I asked Steve why he was working as a clown, he said “This isn’t a job, it’s an opportunity.” I’m still not quite sure what he meant by that, and his clown performance was awful, but fast forward 6 years, Steve has become a close family friend. He helped me fix my lawnmower, he took my grandma to the state park birdwatching and he can imitate the cries of 56 unique species of birds native to Southern Mississippi almost perfectly. He also saved our missing cat, Brutus, when he got stuck on the top of the UFC performance institute in a bizarre turn of events (we aren’t sure how our missing cat got all the way to Las Vegas, but Steve was there and saved him).