At UFC 295 this coming weekend, Steve Erceg will take on Alessandro Costa in just his second fight with the promotion.
Originally, Erceg was slated to take on number nine ranked flyweight, Matt Schnell, but Schnell pulled out of the fight due to injury. It was Schnell who pulled out of his scheduled fight with David Dvorak this past June that resulted in Erceg getting the call to make his UFC debut on late notice.
After picking up the impressive win over the 10th ranked flyweight, Dvorak, on what was his UFC debut, Erceg called for a fight with Schnell.
The 28-year-old told Cageside Press that he was disappointed when he was told Schnell couldn’t compete, but his sole focus is now on the dangerous Brazilian, Costa.
“I was very disappointed obviously. He had that number nine next to his name which helps move me forward in the rankings so I was disappointed in that regard. This fight (Costa) although he doesn’t have a ranking he is very tough so I know that if I beat him, I must be pretty good.”
The 27-year-old Brazilian is coming off the back of an impressive victory over Jimmy Flick and over 13 fights, has won six by way of submission.
Erceg spoke about the matchup from a stylistic standpoint, saying: “I think it’s interesting, we both are good on the ground, we’re both good on the feet, he’s got really good takedown defence but I feel like i’m good at getting people to the ground.
“I’ve watched a lot of his fights now obviously. I didn’t realise who he was straightaway by the name but I had seen him fight Jimmy Flick before and obviously he looked very impressive in that fight. I’ve looked at his jiu-jitsu, I’ve looked at his stand-up, I’ve looked at his past fights before he got to the UFC so I’m up to date on everything Costa.”
Watch the full interview with Steve Erceg above.
