5 Things You Might Not Know About Steve Erceg

Steve Erceg represents a rare breed of competitor in the Ultimate Fighting Championship—those who have had their case at a title shot expedited.

Erceg travels into hostile territory to take on Alexandre Pantoja for the undisputed flyweight championship in the UFC 301 headliner this Saturday at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Although only three fights deep into his UFC run, “Astro Boy” has demonstrated a stellar ability to impose his skills on his opponents. Throughout his three wins in the Las Vegas-based promotion and the other experiences he accumulated outside the UFC, he has never tested his mettle in championship rounds. Will that be an impingement on the challenge he presents to Pantoja? Time could soon tell. Regardless, the Australian plans to keep the ball rolling on his 11-fight winning streak and capture the flyweight title in the process.

Ahead of Erceg’s forthcoming battle with Pantoja, here are five things you might not know about the 28-year-old Aussie:

1. A crossover star served as his inspiration.

Unlike several fighters who were inspired by the rise of the likes of Royce Gracie or Mark Coleman, Erceg grew up a professional wrestling fan. He discovered mixed martial arts when Brock Lesnar, the former UFC heavyweight champ, crossed over from the WWE to the world’s premier MMA organization. Lesnar’s shift to the UFC indubitably grabbed a lot of eyeballs, and Erceg was among many who were naturally drawn to the heavyweight star’s fight against Frank Mir at UFC 81. He spoke about the paradigm shift that the fight fomented in his perspective in an interview with UFC.com. “When the fight started, Brock was giving him a bit of a whooping, and then out of nowhere, Frank grabbed his foot, twisted his ankle and Brock has to give up. Seeing a bigger guy get tapped by a smaller guy intrigued me, as a naturally smaller person, into learning what the hell happened. From then, I knew I at least wanted to learn what was going on in there, and I asked my dad to find a gym as quickly as he could.”

2. Many heroes have driven his ambition.

Erceg has a legion of heroes he looked up to as an aspiring martial artist. Interestingly, in hindsight, the upcoming pay-per-view spectacle must feel like a “life has come full circle” moment for “Astro Boy,” who looked up to Jose Aldo as an inspiration. Now, he is gearing up to headline the UFC 301 card that also features Aldo’s comeback from retirement. “Aldo was one of my favorite fighters. My coach was a big leg kicker, so any time there was someone—like Thiago Alves—that was a big leg kicker, I was just drawn to them. Josa Aldo was a big one.” The Australian also took inspiration from the careers of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Muhammad Ali. However, he mentioned Roy Jones Jr. as his favorite fighter in terms of pure combat.

3. He sharpens his tools while drawing wisdom from his peers.

For many fighters, putting a fellow competitor on a pedestal has proved to be difficult considering the ego deflation and the humility imposition that comes with it. In Erceg’s case, he does not shy away from giving his fellow fighters their merited props. He holds several current fighters in high regard. “Definitely, now, Alexander Volkanovski. I don’t like to say it because I don’t like being a fanboy in front of people, but when I went to Perth, just to see the way he carried himself … He fought Islam Makhachev, who was just revered as one of the toughest lightweights in the world, and he went up, took on the challenge and put on the performance he put up; and we had the crowd there, and I just like the way he carries himself, the way he fights. He’s definitely a big inspiration.”

4. His nickname has unexpected origins.

A good moniker is the extension of self-expression for many fighters, and it is a preview of their fighting style for many others. In Erceg’s case, the “Astro Boy” nickname was simply a ring that hit the right note when his coach’s ex-girlfriend suggested the idea. Former welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson’s sobriquet “Wonderboy” was the original inspiration for it. “We were brainstorming stuff, and I brought up ‘Wonderboy’ because Stephen Thompson has the same name, so I was like, ‘Oh, ‘Wonderboy.’ What about that?’ My coach’s ex-girlfriend said, ‘Oh, what about ‘Astro Boy?’ You kind of look like him.’ That’s literally it.”

5. He has a life outside the Octagon.

Before he started competing professionally, Erceg spent time teaching martial arts as an instructor. He has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and claims that guillotine choke is his favorite grappling technique.