While some would argue that Steve Erceg
won’t have a lot of pressure on him going into his UFC
301 title fight just 11 months after his promotional debut, “Astroboy” couldn’t disagree more.
While Erceg acknowledges that he might have been “at the right
place, at the right time,” in terms of him receiving a title shot
just three fights into his UFC tenure, the Myaree, Australia,
native isn’t taking the opportunity lightly and sees this as a
moment that will serve as the pinnacle of his hard work and
dedication to the sport of mixed martial arts.
Erceg, who hasn’t lost a bout since his second professional outing
in 2017, believes he has a lot of pressure on him going into the
matchup and is aiming to walk away with the strap at the end of the
night in Rio De Janeiro.
“Honestly, I believe there’s just as much as pressure on me as
there is on Pantoja,” Erceg said during his media
day appearance. “I know that, yeah, technically he’s the
champion, he’s the favorite and all that sort of stuff but I’ve
been working for this dream my whole life, and this is the
culmination of all my hard work. So, to lose here would be
devastating for me, so I’ve got plenty of pressure on my shoulders
and I’m confident in all the work I’ve done over the years. I’ve
trained very hard for a very long time, missed holidays, missed
birthdays, missed all sorts of different things to make this dream
a reality. And that’s what I’m going to go out there and do.”