Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has weighed in on whether Australian flyweight Steve Erceg can ‘shock the world’ at UFC 301.
‘Astroboy’ might have gotten his title shot from left field, but that doesn’t mean that fans should be underestimating Steve Erceg as he looks to wrestle away the UFC flyweight title from champion Alexandre Pantoja in front of his home crowd.
Steve Erceg takes on Alexandre Pantoja in the main event of UFC 301
For the second week running, flyweights top the bill with champion Alexandre Pantoja set to defend his 125lb title against surging contender Steve Erceg in the main event of UFC 301 this weekend.
It’s certainly been a quick rise to the top for the Australian ‘Astroboy’, who is getting his first shot to become undisputed UFC champion in just his fourth fight in the promotion; and all the way from the #10 ranking.
Standing across the octagon on Saturday evening will be ‘The Cannibal’ of the flyweight division, champion Alexandre Pantoja who is himself riding a five-fight winning streak which includes victories over Manel Kape, Brandon Royval, Brandon Moreno – and last week’s big winner Alex Perez.
Israel Adesanya offers prediction for UFC 301 main event
Breaking down UFC 301 via his official YouTube channel, former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya noted that he didn’t really know much about Steve Erceg prior to his viral KO win over Matt Schnell earlier this year:
“I didn’t even know he was Aussie until that knockout…That knockout was electric and it’s going to be a f***** hard fight – I won’t lie…I do want Steve to win because it would be a f**** cool story, fourth fight in the UFC, gets called up and like ‘Who, me?’ – it would be cool for him to win.”
Yet despite wanting to root for his fellow ‘Anzac United’ warrior, Adesanya explained that he thinks Pantoja’s experience, especially at the upper levels of competition, will be a deciding factor in the UFC 301 main event.
“He breaks people – and that’s hard to do with the guys like Moreno, to break those guys’ spirit is a hard thing to do, and he’s able to do it through pressure, attacking, and his gas tank.”
“I do hope Steve gets it done, it’s going to be a f***** tough fight against Pantoja because of his experience,” said the fan-favorite middleweight.
Ultimately, ‘The Last Stylebender’ sided with the Brazilian to retain his flyweight championship in front of his home crowd: “It’s going to be a hard, tall task against Pantoja, and I haven’t seen enough of Steve to put my money on him, I’ve seen a lot of Pantoja and I know what he can do – my official pick is Pantoja.”
“If I’m about to put my money on this, I’m going to put it on Pantoja just cause I’ve seen the body of work that he’s put in and I know what he’s capable of, so Steve – my bro…Shock the world.”
Alexander Volkanovski also weighs in on the UFC 301 main event
Whilst Israel Adesanya might be picking against the Australian, former featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski is riding with the underdog to earn a statement victory this weekend.
Whilst Volkanovski also admitted that “this is a tall task” in stealing the belt from Pantoja in front of his home crowd, Steve Erceg has all of the technical abilities to shock the world on Saturday evening:
“This is a big fight for him [Erceg], but I think when we talk about technique – he knows what he’s doing, he knows how to capitalize on opportunities that are going to be there.”
“We know Pantoja is very tough, very scrappy, very dangerous but there are going to be openings,” explained the fan-favorite featherweight, before noting that styles make fights and “I think this is the wrong man to have that style against.”
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“I think Astroboy is going to go out there and I think he can get it done… I think he can get a finish as well so I will go mid-rounds, he might get a finish…Third round, that’s my call.”
Alexandre Pantoja vs Steve Erceg is the main event of UFC 301, scheduled to go down this weekend from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.