Aussie UFC debutant Stephen Erceg’s massive flyweight title fight promise

That’s the lofty target Stephen Erceg has set himself to become the UFC’s flyweight world champion.

It’s a huge statement from the Perth-based 125-pounder, who will only make his promotional debut at UFC 289 in Vancouver this weekend.

“I’ve been saying for a few years now that the flyweight division is the shallowest,” Erceg tells CODE Sports. “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.”

Erceg has actually cut the number of fights he plans on having before claiming the title by one after taking a debut bout against the 10th ranked David Dvorak.

Erceg was supposed to fight Clayton Carpenter but a series of visa issues and injuries has postponed that showdown.

So, when the UFC offered him the 20-5 Dvorak, who is a skilled fighter, but hasn’t fought in two years and is coming off two defeats, Erceg didn’t hesitate.

“The conversation was: ‘I’m in’,” he says of the negotiations between him and the UFC about fighting Dvorak.

“Some people were shocked, but everyone who knows me knows I want to be the toughest guy. It’s not a surprise that I’m going to take on these big challenges straight away. It’s in my character.

“(Dvorak) is a good fighter. He’s on a two fight skid, but those were against two good guys.

“But, like I said, the flyweight division is pretty shallow, and that’s why he’s still ranked in the top 10.”

A good grappler and dangerous stand-up fighter, Erceg’s plan to win the flyweight title in just four bouts is a simple one - knock people out.

“Getting decisions isn’t enough. You need stoppages to put a stamp on it, but I think four fights is achievable if I’m performing the way I think I can,” he says.

“A win doesn’t feel quite as good after a decision. Finishing someone is the ultimate goal. I know it’s a sport, but if you’re mimicking real life and if you’re fighting, there are no decisions outside the cage.

“I want to put my stamp on it so that they know that if the referee wasn’t there, they wouldn’t be making it out alive.”

Simple perhaps, but the approach was solidified by watching Kiwi flyweight Kai Kara-France’s hugely controversial split decision defeat to Amir Albazi last weekend.

The result, which has been roundly criticised as a robbery, reinforced Erceg’s gameplan.

“I don’t know what the judges were looking at,” Erceg says. “I don’t know how they could give it to Albazi, so I thought Kai was pretty hard done by.”

Erceg’s comments might have placed undue pressure on his 27-year-old shoulders, but he has always strived under stress.

In February he made his long-awaited return after a 16-month lay-off.

Eternal – the biggest MMA promotion in Australia and New Zealand – held its card in Erceg’s home town, in front of all his friends and family, the night before Alexander Volkanovski’s blockbuster lightweight showdown with Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 in the same city.

It’s no exaggeration to say the eyes of the MMA world were staring firmly on the West Australian capital that week.

And two of the sport’s most influential figures – UFC matchmakers Mick Maynard and Hunter Campbell – were in attendance.

His fight was, essentially, a high stakes job interview for a spot in the UFC.

True to form, he submitted Soichiro Hirai in less than two minutes. After giving high-fives and hugs to a few of his many supporters, he was ushered backstage.

“They took me behind these curtains and Mick Maynard and Hunter Campbell were there,” he said. “I tried not to get too excited.

“But that’s exactly how it happened.

“Mick Maynard just said, ‘You’re in the UFC’ and he went to give me a handshake. I was like, ‘Sorry, buddy, this is too big, I’m giving you a hug’.”