Steve Erceg is expecting a hostile crowd on Saturday when he faces Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight title in the main event of UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Erceg knows Brazilian fans like to get loud and chant ‘You Will Die’ in Portuguese to the opposing fighters. With Erceg fighting for the belt and being the main event, he’s expecting to get booed. Not only is he expecting to get booed, but Erceg thinks people will be throwing stuff at him after he finishes Pantoja at UFC 301.
“I definitely expect the same. To go out there and get a finish would be amazing and then yeah, I expect bottles to be thrown at me as I leave the arena, but I think that’s part of the authentic Brazilian experience,” Erceg said at UFC 301 media day.
Steve Erceg says getting booed is nothing new to him. Instead, he is embracing it as he says that will pump him up even more.
Ultimately, Erceg has confidence he will be able to pull off the upset and beat Pantoja to become the new flyweight champion.
“I think I’m going to hold range, walk him into space, and hit him with angles. I know he’s a real tough guy, so at some point, it’s going to get sloppy, it’s going to get scrappy, I’m keen to prove that I’m not just a technical guy, I’m also a tough guy,” Erceg added.
As Erceg says, he’s expecting a tough fight, but one he’s confident he can pull off the upset and become the new UFC flyweight champion by dethroning Pantoja in his home country. Should that happen, he hopes he can defend his belt for the first time in Australia in August.
Erceg enters his title fight with a perfect 3-0 record in the UFC. He’s coming off a KO win over Matt Schnell, while before that, he beat Alessandro Costa by decision and David Dvorak by decision. Erceg is 12-1 as a pro with his lone loss coming in his second career fight.
