UFC 301: Steve Erceg reveals massive Perth plan if he beats Alexandre Pantoja in Rio

Steve Erceg is never short of confidence. And a two-time flyweight UFC champion awaits this Sunday (Australian time) in Brazil.

Steve Erceg plans on beating two-time flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja in Rio de Janeiro, before defending the 125-pound belt three months later in Perth at UFC 303.

It’s a bold statement, but isn’t so far-fetched considering some of the Western Australian’s predictions so far.

He said he wanted to get a title shot within five fights, and he’s done it.

He said he’d knock out Matt Schnell and he did that in March.

So, a win this weekend and a title defence in front of his home fans isn’t as implausible as it might seem.

“That’s definitely my intention,” Erceg tells this masthead from his digs in Rio. “I have to get through this first fight and come through unscathed, but I definitely want to turn around quickly and fight in front of my home crowd and everybody that’s been supporting me for so long.”

Erceg secured his title fight with a stunning one-punch knockout of Matt Schnell in March. Picture: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Defending the title in his hometown would be a full circle moment for Erceg.

The 28-year-old secured his UFC contract with an impressive first-round win over Soichiro Hirai at Eternal 73 in Perth a night before Alex Volkanovski’s UFC 284 bout with Islam Makhachev.

He was an unknown outside of the most diehard Aussie MMA fans, and later watched Volkanovski, and fellow Perth fighter Jack Della Maddalena bring the house down at RAC Arena.

“I got to watch Jack Della walk out in front of that home crowd in Perth last year, and obviously Volk did the same thing,” Erceg said. “That was a pretty cool experience, just listening to the crowd chant their names and sing their songs.

“Hopefully it happens for me. It would definitely be a full circle moment, going from getting started in Perth on Eternal just over a year ago, to fighting in the UFC in front of my home crowd – that’d be very cool.”

Erceg will fight for the title in just his fourth UFC bout. Picture: Will Russell/Zuffa LLC

Always a cool, calm and collected customer, Erceg admits there have been a few pinch me moments leading into his first pay-per-view headline spot.

“Seeing my face on a poster was a weird one,” he laughed. “And having one of my favourite fighters ever – Jose Aldo – fighting on the same card below me, that’s a trip.

“The other one was during UFC 300, they played the UFC 301 promo and I was like, ‘Hey, that’s me getting advertised!’

“The whole thing is very unusual and exciting and I’m just taking it as it comes.”

Not all of the commentary has been complimentary though, with plenty suggesting he’s being thrown into the deep end too quickly.

Erceg says he’s been ignoring all social media for the past few weeks, but made light of jokes around his resemblance to Steve Carrell’s character, Michael Scott, from The Office.

He even printed t-shirts poking fun at the similarities.

“Those sold very well,” he laughed. “People had a great reaction to them and I thought the whole lookalike thing was quite funny.

“I just thought it would be a good chance to jump on the buzz.

“But I’ve been trying not to read some of the other comments. People who are much more in the public eye than I am have suggested not to.

“If you read too much into it – good or bad – I just don’t think it’s good for you.

“And I’ve always thought, since my first fight, that I could get a title shot quickly. I didn’t think it could come quite this quickly, but I’ve been training for it for a long time.

“I put in a lot of hard work and years of dedication and I’m ready for it. I can’t wait.”