With UFC 300 in the rearview, fans are now excited for the promotion’s return to Brazil for a PPV – UFC 301. The event will be headlined by Alexandre Pantoja, who will defend his flyweight title against Steve Erceg. However, people don’t seem to know too much about the championship contender, and today we are here to get to know ‘Astroboy’ a little better.

Erceg boasts a 12-1 MMA record, 11 of those were straight wins. The only outing he ever lost was his second MMA fight. For a record like this, the athlete and his team have to be top-tier. Ahead of his title fight (and what could be his 12th straight MMA win), let’s look at the gyms, coaches, and the many teammates of Steve Erceg.

All about Steve Erceg’s corner and team

Steve Erceg is a relative newcomer to the UFC compared to other fighters in the flyweight division. He debuted at 27 years of age, and if fighting for the title at 28, and in less than a year under the promotion.  The number 1 contender for the 125-pound title has been training in his hometown of Perth, Australia for a long time.

Erceg trains at ‘Wilkes Martial Arts, BJJ & MMA Academy‘. The gym is owned by David Wilkes, who runs the gym with his wife and is also the head coach of ‘AstroBoy’. Erceg earned his black belt in jiu-jitsu while training at this institution.

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He has also trained with lightweight star Beneil Dariush at ‘Kings MMA‘ in Anaheim, California, and trained BJJ with Sergio Penha at his jiu-jitsu academy in Las Vegas, Nevada occasionally.

As for the teammates and training partners of Steve Erceg, they don’t seem to be experienced professional fighters. Some of his most experienced teammates include ‘TLC’ Rich Lockett, who has a record of 3 wins and 1 loss. Then, there is Shannon Staples with an amateur record of 3 wins and 3 losses under his belt, and finally, Louis Christopherson, who is also an amateur fighter with 2 wins so far. On the other hand, Erceg also works as a trainer while training as a professional fighter at the same time.

‘AstroBoy’ wants to build future MMA stars!

Steve Erceg is not just looking to make his mark in MMA. He also helps young children prepare to become professional combat sports athletes. Having received his black belt, Erceg decided to become a trainer himself. In addition to training there, he is an instructor and takes care of the training routines of the younger students of the ‘Wilkes Martial Arts, BJJ & MMA Academy.’

Despite being the only fighter to reach the level that he has in MMA from his gym, Steve Erceg remains confident that more fighters will follow suit. And now at UFC 301, all his hard work and the 15+ years of training will come into play when he steps inside the Octagon against Alexandre Pantoja.

Steve Erceg has had only three fights in the UFC so far. There have been polarizing reactions to his admission into the title fight since he had a rather fast route to the belt. Despite all those reactions from fans, it will all come down to what happens on May 4th.