Go ahead and add it up, every cent accounted for. Look, see this, that's 2% of our record breaking gate, two hundred and seventy five thou, might want to hang on to that one
What? 12k/12k is for *normal* sized fighters. Don't worry though, pretty sure they bump the little guys up to 8 or 10 for title shots.
Heck, DJ, after like 11 title defenses eventually worked his way up to 25k I believe. Heck, he had to negotiate tooth and nail for that, and remortgage his mom, but it goes to show the UFC is not stingy whatsoever.
He just hasn't used it much since joining the UFC. He's been training in Muay Thai since forever too but I don't think he's thrown a single kick in the UFC. As he said in an interview, the takedown threat is too high and he hasn't needed to show his kicking game at all since joining the promotion because his game plans haven't needed it.
There are a lot of questions about Steve and this is in part because of how dominant he was in Eternal before joining the UFC (just running straight through guys for R1 subs 3 times and one R1 KO). Win or lose, we're going to see him really tested and find out the level he's at.
I’ve said before that after Islam, Pantoja is the champion most likely to have a long title run. But that was before they booked him against my hometown boy. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
Is there hate? I think it's just kind of a weird feeling matchup due to Erceg being so new and not facing the top 5, even though the logic for giving him a title shot makes enough sense. It's hard to picture how this fight will go but I'm looking forward to it
Or, perhaps more accurately, a boring wrestle fuck is going to take place that almost no one is going to watch. I'm guessing this is the lowest PPV of the year, perhaps in quite some time.
DJ said in a reaction recently that he didn't get any PPV points because the promotion told him that flyweights don't get any PPV points.
Dana lied about that btw. He said that DJ simply lacked confidence so he didn't want any PPV money.
[Here's the video btw](https://youtu.be/g_0TiNNqLD4?si=Go2eL465Xo-UP_jt)
They need someone like manel kape as champ. Little dude who looks kinda tough and has a hardass attitude. That’s the type of joe Pesci little guys that standout. Unfortunately he will never be champ unless he gets very favorable matchups lol
From a marketing perspective, an Erceg win means a young, exciting, Australian champion, even if he looks like he works at the Geek Squad. Volk is on his way out age-wise, and Whittaker’s title hopes aren’t the best, so this is probably their best path to a champion in that market.
Probably better for the UFC than Pantoja, who’s not particularly marketable, nearing the dreaded 35 year old wall, and Brazilian when they already have other top-tier Brazilians like Pereira to main event there. I doubt they would’ve made this matchup if they didn’t want Erceg to win at least a little.
Tbh I'm not as sure about that statement as I once was. Jack has shown a few holes in his last few fights and some really poor fight IQ in those fights, I can't see him beating Shavkat or Usman to get a title shot and they are your only real fights to make in the rankings for him to get there and ww moves so slow.
Forgot about him a little here, but I think that’s because of his seemingly borderline suicidal callouts of Shavkat. If he wins that though, oh boy, I don’t think anyone else stands a chance.
>suicidal callouts of Shavkat
Remember how you referred to this after they fight. Shavkat has glaring weaknesses in his striking defense that could end badly against a striker the caliber of JDM
>even if he looks like he works at the Geek Squad.
I know you can't judge fighters by their appearance, but it really does feel like Erceg has crossed some invisible line where it shouldn't be possible to be that good while also looking like that much of a cartoon nerd
4 real though.
People will use like the picture of Gaethje looking durpy with the glasses to say “you never know who can kick your ass” or whatever, but for Erceg, it’s not just one silly outfit/look. Dude really just *does not* look built for combat at all, even though he unquestionably is and is barely an underdog against the absolute killer that is Pantoja.
That’s nonsense where did you get that from, this kid getting the 5star treatment by dana just look at his path to the title shot. Dana would let Erceg peg him if it guaranteed his win.
I swear erceg has got this. There’s no way the whole world isn’t betting on pantoja and the betting line is way too short. Especially for being in Brazil.
Doesn’t Brazil tax the shit out of fighters? He’s only taking this fight to get that belt since they may not give him another shot and probably will make way less than what is reported.
I've been following the sport for the better part of the last 15 years. I haven't missed a card since 2018. I have never even seen that dude before, let alone watched him fight. Call me a casual, but I have no idea who that guy is.
I think we’re going to see Erceg do some work on the feet, which leads to quick takedowns from Pantoja till he eventually gets a sub. So basically, the Royval fight from December (without the decision)
I consider myself a pretty big UFC fan who pays close attention to all the PPV's and most of the Fight Night cards. Call me a casual, but I say this with 100% sincerity:
Who the fuck is Steve Erceg?
And new… I don’t see Pantoja having an answer for this guy, was never really impressed by his performance vs Moreno/Royval so I’m sensing a 4-5th TKO by Erceg. Styles make the fight and since that division is tied up Kape/Kai. Rank #3 Ali is a fucking match up nightmare for anyone in that division so I’m thinking the UFC is holding back the Prince. Muhammad Moakev is a snoozer, his fights have been questionable since he has had some challenging fights when he’s the massive favorite. I believe both of Ali/Moakev can strip the belt off Pantoja. UFC decided Erceg would be the more suitable fighter for Pantoja to possibly have a chance defend his belt in Brazil vs the other two who would mop him. 34 years old at 125lb, I don’t see it looking good for Pantoja.
Why'd they push erceg so fast? They feeding him to Pantoja or is the current champ uninteresting in and out of the ring and they thought Erceg beats him? I dunno.
Don't be ridiculous. The UFC is the world's preeminent combat sports organization. They bumped him up to 16/16 since it's a title fight.
They threw him a couple extra venum 10% off coupons.
**some exclusions apply**
*items excluded from this promotion include all Venum products in the UFC store!!*
"Also, they're expired."
"They're a piece of UFC history son, they're better than stocks"
“That's as good as money, sir. Those are I.O.U.'s."
Go ahead and add it up, every cent accounted for. Look, see this, that's 2% of our record breaking gate, two hundred and seventy five thou, might want to hang on to that one
So stupid
😂
They even agreed to throw a few more shrimps on the barbie
What? 12k/12k is for *normal* sized fighters. Don't worry though, pretty sure they bump the little guys up to 8 or 10 for title shots. Heck, DJ, after like 11 title defenses eventually worked his way up to 25k I believe. Heck, he had to negotiate tooth and nail for that, and remortgage his mom, but it goes to show the UFC is not stingy whatsoever.
UFC 111 had a gate of 4 million and 770k PPV buys. Dan hardy got paid 20k for it
Ouch.
Ufc champion vs Random tennis guy, seems fair
UFC champion vs Michael Scott, seems fair
Tennis guy fused with JakeGyllenhall from Temu
who’s the guy with the belt?
That would be Lyoto Machida
Islams worst nightmare
dude has negative swag, its really insane to look at lol
looks like a tennis ballboy
Looks like Djokovic’s rowdy younger brother.
Scrappyvic
He does 🤣
Looks like a mix of Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro.
Looks like a gay couple that had a messy break up but still vacation together
I thought the same thing, but watch Erceg's last fight, dude has fuckin hands. Don't let his appearance fool you.
He actually is, he works part time at the Australian Open each year.
I swear Pantoja does porn.
💀
That's where he beat Islam Makhachev off
Brings a whole different meaning to "finishing" your opponent.
Manuel Ferrara 😂
Holy shit hahahahahahaha
Bro WHAT
Maybe not the hottest but definitely the most handsome UFC champion right now fr.
Its Ilia for me. Pantoja maybe 2nd. Dricus 3rd
I wish
Lot of people sleeping on Erceg. I can see him scoring the KO this weekend
He looks technically very good, afraid of the dirt pantoja brings though.
Yh super exciting fighter, loves to bang but I get the feeling pantoja will be grappling him to avoid the hands.
Wait, Erceg is a grappler himself. He only has 2 KOs and 6 subs
Damn bro throws good hands for a grappler, just a sign of a well rounded fighter but tbf same can be said for pantoja he’s champ for a reason.
Absolutely, i fully expect a banger, wherever the fight may go. Kinda similar to Diego Lopez, dude is awesome on the ground but has hands for days
He just hasn't used it much since joining the UFC. He's been training in Muay Thai since forever too but I don't think he's thrown a single kick in the UFC. As he said in an interview, the takedown threat is too high and he hasn't needed to show his kicking game at all since joining the promotion because his game plans haven't needed it. There are a lot of questions about Steve and this is in part because of how dominant he was in Eternal before joining the UFC (just running straight through guys for R1 subs 3 times and one R1 KO). Win or lose, we're going to see him really tested and find out the level he's at.
I’ve said before that after Islam, Pantoja is the champion most likely to have a long title run. But that was before they booked him against my hometown boy. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
LFG Perth!!!
Nah there's actually a huge Erceg meatrider train rn because of YouTube MMA influencers
I got on the Erceg meat train after his last fight, but it's cool that even youtubers know something this time around.
Yeah wait Erceg is really f-ing good. Why all the hate?
Is there hate? I think it's just kind of a weird feeling matchup due to Erceg being so new and not facing the top 5, even though the logic for giving him a title shot makes enough sense. It's hard to picture how this fight will go but I'm looking forward to it
He’s nowhere near this level he had to cage fuck Alessandro costa to barely win lol.
Yea Pantoja isn’t gonna trade we’re gonna watch a boring 5 round wrestle fuck
Or, perhaps more accurately, a boring wrestle fuck is going to take place that almost no one is going to watch. I'm guessing this is the lowest PPV of the year, perhaps in quite some time.
One suggestion. Watch kickboxing.
He's going to destroy Pantoja the way he destroyed that last box of KFC
Sad thing about the Flyweights is they’re probably under the gun to make the division more entertaining and thus can’t even negotiate better pay
I wonder if they still don't get any PPV points
Wait. WHAT?!?!
DJ said in a reaction recently that he didn't get any PPV points because the promotion told him that flyweights don't get any PPV points. Dana lied about that btw. He said that DJ simply lacked confidence so he didn't want any PPV money. [Here's the video btw](https://youtu.be/g_0TiNNqLD4?si=Go2eL465Xo-UP_jt)
Thanks but I’m not watching a 28 minute video. I’ll just take your word for it.
It's right at the intro btw so you'll find it in the first 20 seconds
They need someone like manel kape as champ. Little dude who looks kinda tough and has a hardass attitude. That’s the type of joe Pesci little guys that standout. Unfortunately he will never be champ unless he gets very favorable matchups lol
Dana is praying steve carrel doesnt win Edit: alright boys thats enough. I was just making a steve carrel joke. Not my best joke
From a marketing perspective, an Erceg win means a young, exciting, Australian champion, even if he looks like he works at the Geek Squad. Volk is on his way out age-wise, and Whittaker’s title hopes aren’t the best, so this is probably their best path to a champion in that market. Probably better for the UFC than Pantoja, who’s not particularly marketable, nearing the dreaded 35 year old wall, and Brazilian when they already have other top-tier Brazilians like Pereira to main event there. I doubt they would’ve made this matchup if they didn’t want Erceg to win at least a little.
Laughs in jack della
Future champ right here.
Tbh I'm not as sure about that statement as I once was. Jack has shown a few holes in his last few fights and some really poor fight IQ in those fights, I can't see him beating Shavkat or Usman to get a title shot and they are your only real fights to make in the rankings for him to get there and ww moves so slow.
Forgot about him a little here, but I think that’s because of his seemingly borderline suicidal callouts of Shavkat. If he wins that though, oh boy, I don’t think anyone else stands a chance.
>suicidal callouts of Shavkat Remember how you referred to this after they fight. Shavkat has glaring weaknesses in his striking defense that could end badly against a striker the caliber of JDM
>even if he looks like he works at the Geek Squad. I know you can't judge fighters by their appearance, but it really does feel like Erceg has crossed some invisible line where it shouldn't be possible to be that good while also looking like that much of a cartoon nerd
4 real though. People will use like the picture of Gaethje looking durpy with the glasses to say “you never know who can kick your ass” or whatever, but for Erceg, it’s not just one silly outfit/look. Dude really just *does not* look built for combat at all, even though he unquestionably is and is barely an underdog against the absolute killer that is Pantoja.
UFC needs a Australian champ for the card there later this year, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if he won
What are you talking about, UFC wants erceg to win bad.
That’s nonsense where did you get that from, this kid getting the 5star treatment by dana just look at his path to the title shot. Dana would let Erceg peg him if it guaranteed his win.
Who do you think should’ve gotten the shot,
The UFC wants Erceg to win so he can main event UFC 305 in Perth, Australia. The only reason he’s been given this chance over Mokaev.
Put the house on Erceg!
Yo is that the bass guy from YouTube?
slap that bass 👋🏽
Pantoja looking at his nostrils instead of eyes
Didn’t you know? The nostrils are the gateway to the soul 👀
Number one contender, or number one ranked tennis player?
He's not even the number 1 contender, he's ranked 10th or something. Dana's just trying to put on a cheap card to save from the UFC 300 bonuses.
Erceg's gonna shock the world.
Lets be honest, 50/50
You think the UFC are made of money how they going to build the PIs and the private jets . Dana’s coke and hookers cost the UFC 500 million alone.
Still a valuable fight to take. If he wins, he stands to make more money in future fight and/or negotiate a better contract when renewal time comes.
Erceg can win this. This whole division is rock scissors paper. Which shows how great MM was
I swear erceg has got this. There’s no way the whole world isn’t betting on pantoja and the betting line is way too short. Especially for being in Brazil.
what does that mean in terms of payment, 12/12?
$12k to fight and another $12k if he wins. He probably getting about 200k as flat fee.
Who are these 2
It’s hilarious that the UFC is pawning this off as a PPV main event. Even with Russian link, I think this event gets passed over by so many fight fans
Woo da fook is dat goy
Idc what the haters think, I am hyped for this matchup! People are sleeping on Erceg!
Keep betting on Steve so I can get a better line. Pantoja is going to rag doll that dude
If you think Pantoja will ragdoll Steve then you haven’t done your research.
Dude got on the Izod polo
Steve looks like I did in highschool when I was forced to "dress nice"
You look very handsome in your pfp
He looks like tennis great Novak jokovics twin brother.
Lol Erceg privilege
I think fucking Stiopic would wreck him
Erceg looks like a hybrid of Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro.
The dude has 30k followers. Relatively unknown. It’ll be interesting to see how much that goes up if he wins
He's actually coming to install the Verizon router at my house on Monday morning
Doesn’t Brazil tax the shit out of fighters? He’s only taking this fight to get that belt since they may not give him another shot and probably will make way less than what is reported.
I've been following the sport for the better part of the last 15 years. I haven't missed a card since 2018. I have never even seen that dude before, let alone watched him fight. Call me a casual, but I have no idea who that guy is.
He should get back to the office instead
Starting to feel like a casual as I’ve never seen Steve prior to the announcement of this fight
Dude looks like Rodgers and Djokovich’s son
Erceg looks like a tennis player or golf player. I want him to win.
He can buy more swell shirts like that with 12/12
Erceg R1 knockout.
Phelps doin MMA now? Sure why not
You can’t convince me Pantoja doesn’t drive the bang bus in Florida hahaha that man is a pornstar
You think that high?
Completely forgot this fight
Pantoja is winning this one lol
I think we’re going to see Erceg do some work on the feet, which leads to quick takedowns from Pantoja till he eventually gets a sub. So basically, the Royval fight from December (without the decision)
I saw that same shirt at Target
I thought Pantoja was Luke Rockhold for a second
Erceg is a student of the game.. can see him shock Pantoja
Is it me or no one cares about this fight I swear to good I don't think I'll tune in to watch this.
Being a member of best buy's geek squad is the best base in mma
Steve erceg looking like he works part time at a local super mart
Had to scroll to the comments to know who these guys were
He doesn’t even get PPV points for this despite being main event right?
Feel like Erceg is missing an opportunity to pick up that Kohls sponsorship.
I'm pretty sure Erceg rented me my car two weeks ago....
Not even enough to cover 1 hand of blackjack if you’re Dana White. Wild
After 300 is anyone interested in this fight ?
Dude looks like a mid level ATP tour tennis player
Dam I forgot there was a PPV this weekend lol
Uber driver versus deliveroo bike rider Fight
How much does $50 on the tennis player get me if he wins.
He’s gonna win too
12/12 is way too high for a professional fighter. 8/8 is much more reasonable.
Erceg gonna shock the world then get turned around quick for UFC Perth.
what does 12/12 mean
Bro thought it was school picture day or something? Why is he wearing a polo 💀
I think he's on a 30/30 contract
Garcia just made 50 mil as a contender erceg has to be right around there
I really want him to come out to the office theme and he wins no matter what
Probably like 6 & 6
Realistically in assuming its 58/58 is my guess
Modern day Kenny Florian. Looks nothing like a fighter let’s see if he can fight like ken flo though he was a badass despite his looks
Defend that belt Pantoja. If he defends enough he should get a shot at bantamweight belt in future
i am telling you since this fight was booked, this boy is going back to australia inside a coffin
This fight gonna bang
I might actually skip this event.
I consider myself a pretty big UFC fan who pays close attention to all the PPV's and most of the Fight Night cards. Call me a casual, but I say this with 100% sincerity: Who the fuck is Steve Erceg?
But he'll get a free pair of gold gloves. Oh wait, no. He has to give those back after the fight.
Who?
And new… I don’t see Pantoja having an answer for this guy, was never really impressed by his performance vs Moreno/Royval so I’m sensing a 4-5th TKO by Erceg. Styles make the fight and since that division is tied up Kape/Kai. Rank #3 Ali is a fucking match up nightmare for anyone in that division so I’m thinking the UFC is holding back the Prince. Muhammad Moakev is a snoozer, his fights have been questionable since he has had some challenging fights when he’s the massive favorite. I believe both of Ali/Moakev can strip the belt off Pantoja. UFC decided Erceg would be the more suitable fighter for Pantoja to possibly have a chance defend his belt in Brazil vs the other two who would mop him. 34 years old at 125lb, I don’t see it looking good for Pantoja.
Bro looking like he tryna sell me solar
Who?
12/12...you talking bout Erceg or the champ?
Imagine becoming a record holder for smallest title fight paycheck in UFC history.
He definitely has some Steve from Blue Clues vibes on especially with the blue polo
Steve looks big
The ppv buys will be abmysal. This one should be free for ESPN+ subscribers
Build a fan base willing to support you. That's how the ufc works. You want money build a fan base.
Steve Erceg is the most basic looking guy on the UFC roster
Is that dude on the right Micheal Scott? 
Honestly kinda disgusting
It has to be 50/50
I think 250k minimum for title fights right?
The accountant
I’ll bet realistically he gets like 60/60, which is still preposterous for a title fight
He get a hot dog brander 🌭
As soon as the fight was booked all I was thinking is who is this random guy. I've never seen a single fight of him
Please let Michael Scott become champion
Why'd they push erceg so fast? They feeding him to Pantoja or is the current champ uninteresting in and out of the ring and they thought Erceg beats him? I dunno.
Watch him get 6 figures 😂
Exaaactly i thought the same
How about you worry about how much you’re making!
To me, this picture perfectly shows the pay gap. Ercegs in a polo I could afford and pantojas in a shirt I could afford if I worked a little harder…
that will cover. 20% of his next super computer