Australia’s newest UFC signing Steve Erceg has given himself just five fights to become world flyweight champion – a title run that would rival the likes of Brock Lesnar, Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya.
Better, the hyped West Australian is already asking that his debut come against undefeated American prospect Clayton Carpenter — a fighter he brands both a “dick” and wannabe philosopher.
Long considered the best Aussie fighter not signed by the UFC, 27-year-old Erceg has now changed all that after winning his Eternal 73 headliner in Perth last Saturday evening.
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Deliberately scheduled on the same weekend as UFC 284, Erceg’s first round submission was watched on by both UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell and matchmaker Mick Maynard – who the pair then approaching him afterwards with a contract offer.
After missing a shot on Dana White’s Contender Series last year because of visa issues, Erceg now wants to make his UFC debut against the same guy he was slated to face – undefeated American Carpenter.
Should the Arizona fighter win his own UFC debut, as expected, on this weekend’s Fight Night card in Las Vegas, Erceg has told Fox Sports Australia: “I definitely want Clayton Carpenter next.
“He’s who I was supposed to fight on The Contender series last year, and I also think the guy is a douche.
“So I want to slap him down a little bit.”
Asked exactly what he disliked about Carpenter, the Aussie continued: “There’s lots of things.
“The way he talks, he tries to be a philosopher.
“Thinks he’s smarter than he is.
“Then after he won a contract on The Contender too, and they asked if he was happy, he says: ‘Nah, I’m not. I could’ve done better’.
“You’ve just made the UFC.
“How about at least pretend this is something you’ve wanted your entire life.
“There was also some stuff recently, when people were pushing for me (online) to get onto the UFC 284 card in Perth.
“He posted something online saying ‘Oh, you lost your visa, you don’t deserve to be there’.
“But I never got that visa because of things that were out of my control.
“Yet he still wants me to live the rest of my life without that opportunity? Just because his country said on that occasion I couldn’t be there?
“He’s a d … and I want to punch him in the head.”
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So what chance Carpenter would even be in the UFC had you guys met on The Contender as planned?
“He’s a good fighter, good enough to be in the UFC,” Erceg insisted.
“I can’t take that away from him.
“But had he run into me last year, no, he wouldn’t be there.”
Erceg also revealed his bold blueprint to win a UFC title within five fights. A run that would see him ink his name alongside a host of UFC greats who enjoyed rapid rises to the top – among them WWE superstar Lesnar, who took gold within three fights.
Elsewhere, Jiri Prochazka also needed just three fights to win the UFC light heavyweight title last year, while reigning UFC middleweight champ Alex Pereira got to the top in four.
Adesanya also won himself the interim middleweight title within six fights before unifying against Australia’s first UFC champ Robert Whittaker.
Back in the early 2000s, MMA great Anderson Silva also needed just two fights to claim the UFC middleweight title.
Quizzed on how he sees the UFC flyweight division, Erceg replied: “I think it’s the weakest division in the UFC right now.
“There are definitely a few good guys there.
“But I really believe four good fights – four finishes – and I’m in that title picture.
“And I believe I can hang with the top five right now, too.
“Looking at it, the wrestling among flyweights is at a lower level compared to the other divisions.
“There are a couple who wrestle really well but the majority are mostly strikers so I feel like my wrestling can translate well.”
Elsewhere, Erceg also revealed he had long been a fan of New Zealand favourite Kai Kara France, currently ranked No.3 among flyweights.
“I’ve looked up to him for a long time,” he said. “We’ve never actually met but when I started fighting in the amateurs he was already a professional.
“So Kai is a guy I’ve always looked up to a lot.”
Headlining on Eternal 73, Erceg submitted Japan’s Soichiro Hirai in the first round via rear naked choke – taking his undefeated streak to eight wins, and overall record to 9-1.
The following morning, he was then in the UFC 284 crowd, as Australia’s Alexander Volkanovski fell agonisingly short in his push for the UFC lightweight title.
But as for that moment when he made the UFC himself?
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“After winning, I went out back behind a curtain and saw Hunter and Mick,” he recalls. “We had a little chat, Mick actually asked what had gone wrong with my visa, and then at the end he said ‘you’re in the UFC’.”
Australia’s newest UFC fighter also praised the Eternal promotion, saying: “They’ve gone above and beyond for me.
“Through my career, I’ve been notoriously hard to match.
“Early on I was better than my record suggested so people didn’t want to fight me. Then more recently I’ve been hard to match because I was at that level where people were scared of me ruining their record.
“So they’ve done more than they had to.
“Went to Japan, other countries (to find Erceg opponents) … they’re Australia’s best promotion for a reason.”
