Former UFC Flyweight Title Contender Gets New Opponent
Steve Erceg (12-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has enjoyed a rollercoaster journey to the top of the sport over the past two years. “Astroboy” only made his debut inside the Octagon in June of 2023 when he beat David Dvorak by unanimous decision at UFC 289 in Vancouver, Canada.
He followed that up with another victory over Alessandro Costa at UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden in November of that year and when he knocked out Matt Schnell with a picture-perfect left hook in early 2024, the Australian found himself in the right place at the right time to get a short-notice call-up to face Alexandre Pantoja for the UFC flyweight title at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro.
The 29-year-old ultimately came up short, losing a five-round decision to “The Cannibal” but the fight was competitive enough to mark Erceg out as another contender in the UFC flyweight title discussion going forward.
Disaster Strikes On Home Soil
Steve Erceg returned to action just three months later at UFC 305 which took place in his home town of Perth, Western Australia. He entered the co-main event against New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France as a slight favorite, but suffered a first-round KO defeat to the Kiwi.
In the space of just fourteen months, Erceg went from winning his opening three fights in the UFC to challenging for the title, before then finding himself on a two-fight skid.
He gets the opportunity to get back to winning ways at UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Kape on March 1st at the UFC Apex.
Two Top Ten Contenders To Square Off At The Apex
Standing across the Octagon from Erceg will be Asu Almabayev (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC). The Khazak-born fighter has enjoyed a sensational start to life in the UFC flyweight division. He earned a performance of the night bonus when he submitted Ode Osbourne in his UFC debut in august of 2023.
Asu Almabayev will fight Steve Erceg at #UFCVegas103 on March 1st. (first rep. Dar Pro Team) #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2025 pic.twitter.com/PahvSsekeP
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) January 10, 2025
The 30-year-old then went on to rack up a hat-trick of unanimous decision victories in 2024, beating CJ Vergara, Jose Johnson and Matheus Nicolau.
With the UFC’s flyweight division crying out for a viable contender to Alexandre Pantoja’s crown, one or two strong performances this year could well thrust either Erceg or Almabayev into the mix for the next shot at the UFC flyweight title.
UFC Fight Night: Royval vs. Kape happens on March 1st at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Check out the full fight card below:
Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape (flyweight)
Nasrat Haqparast vs. Esteban Ribovics (lightweight)
Asu Almabayev vs. Steve Erceg (flyweight)
Montana De La Rosa vs. Luana Carolina (flyweight)
Lucas Almeida vs. Danny Silva (featherweight)
William Gomis vs. Hyder Amil (featherweight)
Danny Barlow vs. Sam Patterson (welterweight)
Cody Brundage vs. Julian Marquez (middleweight)
Andrea Lee vs. JJ Aldrich(flyweight)
Charles Johnson vs. Ramazan Temirov (flyweight)
