Stephen Erceg put on a performance in his UFC debut, beating a top 10 ranked opponent in Vancouver.
Stephen Erceg’s journey to the flyweight world title is off to a flying start, with the Perth-based fighter scoring a unanimous decision victory over David Dvorak on the UFC 289 prelims in Vancouver.
Erceg has ambitious plans of claiming the 125-pound title within four fights, and he showcased his broad array of skills in claiming a 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 win on the scorecards.
Erceg had a frustrating lead-up to his long-awaited UFC debut.
In the past 12 months, visa issues prevented him from traveling to the US, before Clayton Carpenter withdrew from their scheduled bout due to injury.
Erceg stepped into the fight with the 10th ranked Dvorak on just eight days’ notice.
“I’ve been waiting for so long to get here,” he said afterwards. “I’ve had a lot of setbacks.
“I fought a guy who often finishes over the top of his opponents with cardio, and I felt like I took that took that away from him today.
“It’s an awesome feeling.”
Speaking to CODE Sports last week, Erceg outlined his plans to lift the flyweight world title within four fights, in what he described a “shallow” division.
He wants a quick turnaround, calling for a fight on the UFC 293 card in Sydney in September.
“I want it in Sydney,” he said of his next fight. “I want to fight in my home country. I think it’s 10 weeks or 11 weeks from now.
“I’m gonna beat up another guy in the top 10, let’s go.”
After trading on their feet in the first round, Erceg dropped Dvorak with a head kick in the second, and nearly locked in a guillotine in search of a stoppage.
Known as Astro Boy, Erceg pulled away in the third, leaving Dvorak with a shiner over his right eye.
Despite him not being impressed with the current crop of flyweights, the 125-pound division is full of dangerous fighters.
Brandon Moreno currently holds the title after scoring a TKO win over Deiveson Figueiredo in the fourth fight of their ongoing rivalry.
Moreno is scheduled to defend against number two ranked Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290 next month, while Amir Albazi moved up to third in the rankings after his hugely controversial decision win over Kai Kara-France last weekend.
Brandon Royval, Alex Perez, Matt Schnell and Manel Kape are all ranked in the top 10 of the division, with Erceg likely to be given another tough opponent in September.
“I’ve been saying for a few years now that the flyweight division is the shallowest,” Erceg told CODE Sports in the lead-up to his UFC debut. “You’re seeing a few guys now getting signed who look like killers, and in a few years you’ll see the flyweight division as a murderer’s row.
“But at the moment it’s shallow.”
