Ahead of his upcoming return at UFC Vegas 109, Steve Erceg has had to overcome a lot of hurdles.
Having originally been scheduled to face Alex Perez, Erceg was then booked to face Hyun Sung Park following an injury that cancelled the matchup.
The former UFC title challenger has come away with losses in his last three outings against some of the top fighters in the division, making his next outing incredibly important.
Unfortunately for him, Park was then put into this past weekend’s main event against Tatsuro Taira, meaning that Erceg was given yet another new opponent to face.
His clash with Ode Osbourne on August 9 is still incredibly important for him but that doesn’t mean that his recent defeats haven’t provided any positives.
Steve Erceg reflects on how being able to tick off ‘dream’ fights has been a positive from his difficult run of results
Ahead of UFC Vegas 109, Steve Erceg has admitted that his UFC contract could be on the line as he tries to bounce back from a tough run of results.
While his current form may not look impressive on paper, his two fights with the current champion Alexandre Pantoja and the former champ Brandon Moreno were both very competitive.
Erceg was catapulted right to the top of the division when receiving a title shot at UFC 301 last year, meaning that in just six fights, he’s already achieved a lot in his career.
‘Astro Boy’ spoke about this in a recent exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow where he reflected on the positives that he’s been able to take from these defeats.
Alongside feeling like he’s been able to prove that he can compete with the best guys in the division, Erceg said that he’s been able to compete in big matchups at some iconic locations all in a short amount of time.
“The positives are, I got to fight everybody’s dream fights like straight away. It’s a dream come true and the negatives are I lost but I don’t think you can base everything on wins and losses. I’ve got to have some pretty cool experiences and live some pretty cool things and learn a lot about myself.
“I mean I’ve fought in more co-main events and main events than I have any other spot on the card which is nuts to think about so I definitely feel blessed more than anything.”
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Steve Erceg names two more dreams that he wants to tick off in the UFC’s flyweight division
While Steve Erceg has already ticked off some big bucket list moments in his UFC career, there are still a few dreams remaining.
The main goal would obviously be to work his way back to a title shot and become the flyweight champion at the second time of asking, but the flyweight also has two locations in mind.
While it’s not uncommon for fighters to want to have the opportunity to compete in Japan given the martial arts history that is associated with the country, Erceg also wants a piece of what will likely be the biggest UFC event of all time.
“I don’t have a person so much, but there’s two places I’d like to fight, which would be the white house, so I need to get some bad blood with an American bloke, and then Japan. That would be a dream as well.”