Exclusive: Alex Perez picks his winner for UFC 301, says Steve Erceg deserves more credit from fans

Alex Perez recently offered his prediction for the UFC 301 main event.

The fifth pay-per-view event of 2024 will be headlined by UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, who will be defending his title against Steve Erceg. The fight card is set to take place this weekend at the Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The upcoming clash will mark Pantoja's second title defense, while Erceg aims to make history as the first Australian fighter to vie for the 125-pound belt.

'The Cannibal' boasts a five-fight win streak, with his most recent success being a dominant unanimous decision win against Brandon Royval at UFC 296 last December. He secured the flyweight title with a split decision victory over former foe Brandon Moreno at UFC 290.

Meanwhile, 'AstroBoy' is currently on an impressive streak of 11 consecutive wins, three of which were achieved inside the UFC octagon. His last triumph was a second-round knockout of Matt Schnell in March. Erceg made his promotional debut at UFC 289 last June against David Dvorak.

During an exclusive interview with Jame Lynch for Sportskeeda MMA, Perez weighed in on the fight between Pantoja and Erceg. He insisted that the challenger deserves more recognition for his abilities:

"That's going to be a good fight. A lot of people aren't giving Steve too much credit, man. He's a tough guy. I've watched him fight in the UFC. I haven't really seen him outside the UFC, but I mean, he's big for the weight class; he can strike."

However, the 32-year-old American backed 'The Cannibal' to secure the win and expressed his desire for a potential title shot against the current champion:

"I want Pantoja to win just because I can get the title shot again. I want to fight to fight the guy that beat me."

Check out Alex Perez's comments below (5:06):

Pantoja secured a victory over Perez by way of first-round submission at UFC 277 in July 2022.

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Alex Perez reflects on KO win over Matheus Nicolau at UFC Vegas 91

Alex Perez recently clinched a commanding second-round knockout victory over Matheus Nicolau in the main event of UFC Vegas 91 last week, putting an end to his three-fight losing streak.

Perez stepped in on short notice, accepting the fight just three weeks prior to fill in for Manel Kape.

In the same interview with Sportskeeda MMA, the former flyweight title challenger discussed his fight preparations and noted that the buildup to the bout was quite hectic for him due to various commitments:

"I'm overall pretty happy with my with my performance. My team was kind of worried just because I was helping two other fighters out. I was helping Cynthia [Calvillo], and I was helping Cody [Garbrandt], so I was literally traveling between their fight weeks to go train at Team Oyama." [1:42]

Perez is making a quick turnaround and is set to face off against Tagir Ulanbekov in a flyweight bout at a Fight Night event on June 15. The matchup was initially announced for the event several weeks ago, but Perez agreed to fight Matheus Nicolau this past Saturday instead.