Flyweights Steve Erceg and Alessandro Costa closed out the televised preliminary card portion of Saturday’s UFC 295.
The New York, NY based card was held at the famed Madison Square Garden, and headlined by two title fights — with the flyweight duo of Erceg and Costa getting prime position on one of the biggest cards of the year.
Australia’s Erceg held center early, keeping Costa on the outside — but the Brazilian exploded forward, connecting first with a solid right hand. From there, things opened up a little, but men firing and landing a mixture of jabs, hooks and kicks. A right hand by Costa connected flush, but Erceg ate that and carried on.
Just ahead of the one-minute mark, a right hand by Erceg rocked Costa! They wound up going to the ground, with Erceg looking for a year-naked choke despite being in more of a three-quarter mount. Costa survived, and scrambled up to his feet, but the round belonged to Steve Erceg.
Costa came out a little more aggressive in the second, looking to get back in the fight. He began mixing in leg kicks, and changed levels for a takedown only for Erceg to stuff the attempt. Costa, however, stayed on his opponent, latching on with a bodylock and taking the fight to the fence — finally landing the attempt. With Steve Erceg against the fence, Costa had half a round to work, but the pair wouldn’t stay down long. Erceg made it back up, reversed, and pinned Costa against the cage — only for Costa to clip him in the final minute! Costa then chased a submission, allowing Erceg to reverse and get on top, finishing the round there.
Round three saw Erceg driving Costa into the fence early, attacking a leg but having to fend off an elbow. Costa created some space care of an elbow, and moved back to center, only for Erceg to blast into a takedown. Costa was quickly back up, but with half the round having ticked away, he would need to turn things around.
He wasn’t able to — with Steve Erceg instead taking a unanimous decision, and two of three rounds on all three scorecards.
Official Result: Steve Erceg def. Alessandro Costa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
