Following his razor-close defeat at UFC 301, Steve Erceg has been called out for a PPV homecoming against a fan-favorite flyweight veteran.
Whilst Steve Erceg came up short last weekend in Brazil against flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, ‘Astroboy’ didn’t take a significant amount of damage and his next fight could very well be in his own backyard.
Steve Erceg rose just one place in the rankings after UFC 301
Heading into the final round of his championship fight at UFC 301, Steve Erceg was just five minutes away from hearing ‘And New’ in front of a hostile Rio de Janeiro crowd – or at least, what was left of the audience, as many chose to leave the arena before the fight had finished.
Erceg might have come up short in a razor-close decision loss to the champion, but it was certainly a standout performance from the Australian contender as he pushed Pantoja all the way to the judges’ scorecards.
Yet despite the impressive showing, Erceg rose only one place in the official flyweight rankings – luckily, ‘Astroboy’ is already being called out for his next fight, and should this come to fruition, it would make for an outstanding addition to UFC 305.
Kai Kara-France calls out Steve Erceg for key flyweight clash at UFC 305
Speaking via Sky Sport New Zealand, top flyweight contender Kai Kara-France acknowledged that Erceg was just a few poor decisions away from becoming the new king of the 125lb division.
“He held his own against the champ and arguably won that fight. A few decisions, if he did differently, he would probably have had it in the bag, but he showed a lot of skills that I was impressed with and I even messaged him, said you should be proud of that performance.”
‘Don’t Blink’ then took the opportunity to not only call out Erceg for a fight later in the summer but called for the clash to happen at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, on August 18.
“I feel like Steve would be a great dance partner, somewhere close to home – he’s from Perth – so I know the hometown boy will get a lot of hype.”
“There’s no animosity when it comes to Anzacs or guys from this side of the world, you just got to give props where it’s due but yeah that’s the fight game.”
Kara-France noted that the callout is “nothing personal, it’s all business,” adding that given that UFC 305 was around 15 weeks out from the time of recording, there’s plenty of time for Erceg to get back in training:
“This is the one to book, he’ll have a bit of time to recover…He should be ready to go.”
“That’s the pathway, if he wants to get it, Steve Erceg – let’s settle this in Perth.”
The New Zealand warrior is currently riding a two-fight losing streak and hasn’t seen action since his split decision loss to Amir Albazi in June of last year; he also had a fight with Manel Kape fall off in September due to injury.
Call-out comes after Mokaev vs Kape reported for UFC Manchester
Kara-France will be hoping that a statement win over ‘Astroboy’ in Perth could catapult him back into title contention; however, the top of the flyweight tree will likely have a new number one contender by then.
This is because only a few hours earlier, it was reported by multiple sources that #6 ranked Muhammad Mokaev will be facing #7 ranked Manel Kape at UFC 304 in Manchester on July 27.
Whilst this bout has not yet been officially confirmed by the UFC, Mokaev did share a fan-made poster for the fight to his social media with the caption: “July 27th another victory InshaAllah.”
The surging contender is undefeated as a professional with an 11-0 record; six of which have come in the UFC over the likes of Alex Perez, Tim Elliot, and Jafel Filho.
Standing across the octagon will be Manel ‘Starboy’ Kape, who has certainly had a rollercoaster last few years in the UFC with nine canceled bouts since his debut back in 2020.
The Portuguese striker holds a professional record of 19-6 and is riding a four-fight winning streak, which includes victories over David Dvorak, Zhalgas Zhumagulov, and Felipe dos Santos.