Tag: Steve Erceg

Former UFC Title Challenger ‘Doesn’t See’ Jon Jones Destroying Miocic: ‘Going To Be Really Close’

When the fight was scheduled to take place last year at UFC 295, a lot of people were quick to write off Stipe Miocic’s chances of dethroning the heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. Miocic has accomplished a lot a former two-time champion but his years away from the Octagon and last fight meant that a lot […]

When the fight was scheduled to take place last year at UFC 295, a lot of people were quick to write off Stipe Miocic’s chances of dethroning the heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. Miocic has accomplished a lot a former two-time champion but his years away from the Octagon and last fight meant that a lot of people didn’t think that he would be at his best.

This same narrative has only increased since that fight was postponed due to Jones’ injury and rescheduled for UFC 309 this weekend, over one year on from their previously scheduled encounter. However, there are some fellow fighters that believe that this fight will end up being far more competitive than many are expecting.

Miocic was knocked out by Francis Ngannou the last time that we saw him in action but “The Predator” might be the most devastating puncher in the sport and Jones is not known for his heavy hands. In his trilogy with Daniel Cormier, Miocic was able to showcase his wrestling, boxing and fight IQ in order to win their second and third clashes.

Former UFC title challenger Steve Erceg is one member of the roster who believes that Miocic will prove to be a tough test for “Bones”. The Aussie flyweight recently gave his thoughts on the fight in an interview with Fox Sports Australia.

“I’ve been thinking about this fight and believe it’s going to be a really close. Even though everyone is saying Jon Jones will destroy Stipe, I don’t see it because I just can’t see Jon taking Miocic down consistently. I think people are overlooking that.

“Jon Jones also isn’t known for his ridiculous knockout power, so to win he’ll have to beat Stipe through five rounds and I can’t see him (Miocic) being picked apart for five rounds, either. When it comes to Stipe Miocic, I think most people know – or should know – that he isn’t someone to be trifled with. That’s why I think it’s going to be a barn burner. So while I’m probably still leaning towards Jon, if I was having a punt I’d go Stipe because in what I believe will be a close fight, he’s great value.”

Dricus du Plessis responds to insult from Steve Erceg 

Dricus Du Plessis responds to insult from Steve Erceg Off the back of his spectacular victory at UFC 305 over the course of last weekend, incumbent undisputed middleweight…

Dricus Du Plessis responds to insult from Steve Erceg 

Off the back of his spectacular victory at UFC 305 over the course of last weekend, incumbent undisputed middleweight champion, Dricus du Plessis has hit out at fellow main card feature, Steve Erceg – who dropped his own knockout loss to Kai Kara-France in Perth.

du Plessis, the current undisputed middleweight champion, headlined the promotion’s return ‘Downunder’ at UFC 305 over the course of last weekend, turning in a stunning fourth round win over the returning former two-time champion, Israel Adesanya.

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Latching onto a fourth round rear-naked choke submission, Dricus du Plessis forced a tap from City Kickboxing star, bringing an end to their high-profile rivalry with a spectacular, definitive stoppage triumph. 

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And hitting out at a host of fighters in the aftermath of his win against Adesanya, Dricus du Plessis mocked former welterweight title challenger, Darren Till – who claimed he would actually make a return to the Octagon in a bid to dispatch the South African as middleweght champion.

Dricus du Plessis mocks Steve Erceg’s loss at UFC 305

However, on the same card, former flyweight title chaser, Erceg dropped his second consecutive defeat in a blistering opening round knockout loss against the previously mentioned, Kara-France, having pushed champion, Alexandre Pantoja the distance over the course of five rounds at UFC 301 in May in a trip to Brazil. 

Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya UFC 305 KISS

And mocking Perth favorite, Erceg for his claims that du Plessis was just a “6 out of 10” fighter ahead of UFC 305, the Pretoria native hit out at the flyweight in a his own mocking response on Instagram. 

Linked with a slew of fights in his third outing as undisputed middleweight champion, du Plessis has received call outs from light heavyweight gold holder, Alex Pereira – as well as former-foe, Sean Strickland, who has already been pegged as the next challenger to the throne by UFC boss, Dana White. 

Aljamain Sterling Explains Why Kai Kara-France’s Win Over Steve Erceg Was A Bad Stoppage

Kai Kara-France made a real statement with his performance in the co-main event this past Saturday night in Perth. It was a battle of top flyweight contenders at UFC 305 and “Don’t Blink” showed why he still belongs in title contention following consecutive defeats. He was able to stop Perth’s own Steve Erceg in the […]

Continue Reading Aljamain Sterling Explains Why Kai Kara-France’s Win Over Steve Erceg Was A Bad Stoppage at MMA News.

Kai Kara-France made a real statement with his performance in the co-main event this past Saturday night in Perth.

It was a battle of top flyweight contenders at UFC 305 and “Don’t Blink” showed why he still belongs in title contention following consecutive defeats.

He was able to stop Perth’s own Steve Erceg in the opening round, after dropping him with a huge overhand shot that caught the former title challenger clean.

Some follow-up strikes led to him earning a performance bonus for his third knockout or TKO win in the UFC’s 125-pound weight class.

While it was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the night, a former champion did have a point to address after seeing the stoppage.

Aljamain Sterling Says Steve Erceg Was Still Intelligently Defending Himself At The Time Of UFC 305 Stoppage

In his post-UFC 305 breakdown on his YouTube channel, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling discussed the stoppage in this fight.

“Funk Master” has spoken before about his loss to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292, where he believes the referee jumped in too early when he was still intelligently defending himself despite taking some follow-up strikes after being dropped.

Sterling made the same case for Erceg in this fight after seeing how, in his opinion, “Astro Boy” was still in the fight even though his opponent was putting strikes together to get the finish.

“Now, the stoppage was a little odd for me. Like yeah he was hurt beforehand but then he’s starting to recover. My only gripe with the stoppage is you see the guy turn and you see him cover and then you see him trying to get up, he gets hit once, like let him eat a couple because it’s not like it’s catching him clean on the chin right? That would be clear, you’re not intelligently defending yourself but if you at least are smart enough to put an arm up, it’s like, ‘Hey, this is better here. It might rattle my head a little bit but it’s better here than just taking clean shots to the dome.’

“If you can be conscious enough to do that, I think the refs should pay attention to those scenarios. Yes, the whole sequence, I’m not a ref. I’m not a ref but from a fighter’s standpoint, we think about these things and I don’t even think Erceg even like really was protesting or anything but I’m sure he was still in the back of his mind like, ‘I don’t want to be that guy but I’m still kinda annoyed because I could have maybe fought through that and weathered the storm.’ Who knows, we would never know now.”

Read also: Alex Pereira, Belal Muhammad, Aljamain Sterling & Other MMA Fighters React To Dricus Du Plessis Submitting Israel Adesanya At UFC 305

Continue Reading Aljamain Sterling Explains Why Kai Kara-France’s Win Over Steve Erceg Was A Bad Stoppage at MMA News.

Dricus Du Plessis Kicks Steve Erceg When He’s Down After UFC 305 Loss For Labeling Him A ‘6/10 Fighter’

Dricus Du Plessis has always had his fair share of critics during his UFC run, despite being undefeated inside the Octagon. During his climb up the middleweight ladder, many were critical of his ability to fight at a constant pace over three rounds due to him becoming visibly tired in some of his earlier fights. […]

Continue Reading Dricus Du Plessis Kicks Steve Erceg When He’s Down After UFC 305 Loss For Labeling Him A ‘6/10 Fighter’ at MMA News.

Dricus Du Plessis has always had his fair share of critics during his UFC run, despite being undefeated inside the Octagon.

During his climb up the middleweight ladder, many were critical of his ability to fight at a constant pace over three rounds due to him becoming visibly tired in some of his earlier fights.

Even since there has been an improvement from “Stillknocks” in this area, there is often conversation about his unorthodox, and at times reckless-appearing approach which lacks finesse – but has been incredibly effective for him.

This was case and point in the main event of UFC 305 this past weekend where he was able to walk down and catch Israel Adesanya with big looping punches to hurt him and find the submission win in the fourth round.

Unfortunately for those that don’t rate the champion’s technique, he has been keeping receipts.

Dricus Du Plessis Reminds Steve Erceg Of His Criticism After UFC 305

After successfully defending the middleweight title for the first time, Du Plessis made sure to circle back to a few people who had doubted him or talked down on his ability during fight week.

There are clear elements of his game that you wouldn’t necessarily teach a young fighter but the champ knows how to make it work for him.

One of the criticisms that clearly he took notice of was Steve Erceg labelling him as a 6/10 overall fighter due to some of his more unpredictable tendencies.

Erceg was stopped in front of his home fans in Perth this past weekend with Kai Kara-France securing a massive first-round win in the co-main event.

Via his Instagram story, Du Plessis took a moment to remind the former flyweight title challenger of what he had said after they ended up on opposite sides of the win column on August 17.

MMA fans reacted to the champion getting the last word in via social media.

“Dude has all the receipts. He’s coming for everyone.”

“this guy is against the whole world right now”

“Tbf erceg gave himself a 7, it seems like he just has a really high bar”

“If everyone doubted me like how they did I’d come back for everyone too”

Read also: Dricus Du Plessis Embraces Israel Adesanya’s Parents Backstage At UFC 305: ‘You Have An Incredible Son’

Continue Reading Dricus Du Plessis Kicks Steve Erceg When He’s Down After UFC 305 Loss For Labeling Him A ‘6/10 Fighter’ at MMA News.

‘I’m Certain Steve Is Better Than What He Showed’ – MMA Fans & Fighters React As Kai Kara-France Produces First Round KO Win At UFC 305

Kai Kara-France is back in the win column by knocking out Steve Erceg in the first round at UFC 305. The fight started slow with both fighters making reads. However, an overhand left from the New Zealander in the final minute dropped Erceg, eventually ending the fight. Kara-France was on a two-fight losing streak heading […]

Continue Reading ‘I’m Certain Steve Is Better Than What He Showed’ – MMA Fans & Fighters React As Kai Kara-France Produces First Round KO Win At UFC 305 at MMA News.

Kai Kara-France is back in the win column by knocking out Steve Erceg in the first round at UFC 305. The fight started slow with both fighters making reads. However, an overhand left from the New Zealander in the final minute dropped Erceg, eventually ending the fight.

Kara-France was on a two-fight losing streak heading into his UFC 305 co-main event bout. Although his split-decision loss to Amir Albazi was criticized by many, he needed a win to re-enter the title picture.

With his UFC 305 win, Kara-France has reminded fans of his threatening style and ability to finish the fight spontaneously. On the flip side, many of Erceg’s supporters have admitted to expecting a better striking display from “Astroboy”.

Fans Back Kai Kara-France To Fight Alexandre Pantoja For The UFC Flyweight Championship Next

After bagging his thirteenth first-round finish, “Don’t Blink” asked for a title fight in his post-fight interview. Fans admire his explosive fighting style, and a win over Erceg could be enough for the UFC to hand him a title shot.

Continue Reading ‘I’m Certain Steve Is Better Than What He Showed’ – MMA Fans & Fighters React As Kai Kara-France Produces First Round KO Win At UFC 305 at MMA News.

Kai Kara-France lands vicious KO shot on Steve Erceg in opening round – UFC 305 Highlights

Kai Kara-FranceKai Kara-France scored a highlight-reel knockout in his return to the Octagon at UFC 305 against one-time title challenger…

Kai Kara-France

Kai Kara-France scored a highlight-reel knockout in his return to the Octagon at UFC 305 against one-time title challenger Steve Erceg.

Things were relatively quiet in the opening round with Erceg in pursuit and Kara-France circling away. It went like that for the first three-and-a-half minutes. Then suddenly, Kara-France offered up a one-two combination before stepping in and delivering a booming overhand left that put Erceg flat on his back.

Kai Kara-France

Kara-France swarmed his opponent, looking to finish things on the mat, but Erceg scrambled back to his feet and retreated to the cage wall. There, Kara-France landed a big right hand that once again dropped Erceg.

A few ground-and-pound shots later, the referee was left with no choice, but to step in and call for the stoppage with less than a minute to go in the round.

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Official Result: Kai Kara-France def. Steve Erceg via TKO (strikes) at 4:04 of Round 1.

Kai Kara-France

Check Out highlights from Steve Erceg vs. Kai Kara-France at UFC 305: