Bragging rights: Pantoja vs Erceg - Who wins and how?
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Who wins and by what method of victory? Lock in your pick before it the poll closes!
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I haven't seen enough from Erceg to be able to make an educated prediction to be honest.
As a fellow Aussie, I'd love to be surprised but I lean towards Pantoja just being too much for Erceg at this point in his career.
As a fellow Aussie, I'd love to be surprised but I lean towards Pantoja just being too much for Erceg at this point in his career.
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From what I have seen of each guy, which is WAY less than normal for a title fight:
Pantojas striking looks really sloppy to me. He is clearly tough and durable, hard to put away and must have solid cardio to keep winning fights that are competitive and seem to invovle him having to persevere thru taking some damage.
Erceg seems to be pretty technically clean and efficient.
But with only 3 UFC fights it is hard to really judge his durability and level of competition. He is somehow getting a title shot off of 3 fights culminating in beating #8 Schnell in the Apex.
That is impressively underwhelming.
I'm going to pick Erceg.
I will probably be wrong.
I definitely wouldnt put money on it.
I just don't see Pantoja continuing to be successful for long with a game that looks so sloppy to me.
Pantojas striking looks really sloppy to me. He is clearly tough and durable, hard to put away and must have solid cardio to keep winning fights that are competitive and seem to invovle him having to persevere thru taking some damage.
Erceg seems to be pretty technically clean and efficient.
But with only 3 UFC fights it is hard to really judge his durability and level of competition. He is somehow getting a title shot off of 3 fights culminating in beating #8 Schnell in the Apex.
That is impressively underwhelming.
I'm going to pick Erceg.
I will probably be wrong.
I definitely wouldnt put money on it.
I just don't see Pantoja continuing to be successful for long with a game that looks so sloppy to me.
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Pantoja by submission round 3.
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Pantoja by split FOTY
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I’m going pantoja by decision potentially a late round finish. Erceg has really crisp boxing but I think pantojas pressure will be able to stifle it and he will have top control to pull out a 49-46 or 48-47
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Pan via unanimous or split I reckon.
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I've been going over this for about a week. It's a tough one to call. Erceg has power in both hands, and Pantoja gets hit, a lot. Pantoja seems to start sloppy and his standup gets better as the fight progresses, somehow. He's never been finished. Erceg is younger, Pantoja is like 34. I chose Pantoja by decision, for the sake of the poll, but I'm not hardline for any outcome. Could be Erceg KO in the first. Should be a nice fight.
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Pantoja TKO. Exhausts Erceg on the ground for a few rounds, then when Erceg is tired he drops him off a punch and finishes with ground and pound leading to TKO.
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Erceg by Oye Oye Oye!!
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Sportsbet- took Erceg for win by TKO/KO @ 5.20 but by sub @ 14.20! Hoping little Steve goes hard for the win by sub!!
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Pantoja either by Sub or a Decision rooted primarily in ground control I imagine.
Erceg seems solid enough, but he just hasn't done anything to impress me. There doesn't seem to be anything particularly elite in his game that wows me. He KO'd Schnell, sure, but that's more of a "welcome to the club" achievement than anything. After that fight I would expect him to get at least one to two more signature wins inside the division before he's in title talks... but instead he's being pushed into the spotlight solely because the division has no other compelling contender available at the moment. It just doesn't engender confidence in his chances for me because the dude hasn't done enough.
I guess he has a chance if his size and rangy boxing allow him to sprawl-n-brawl Pantoja across five rounds, gassing out the Brazilian and winning on volume and attrition down the stretch. He was actually a tricky grappler on the regional scene and we've seen flashes of that in the UFC... but Pantoja is elite on the mat and is willing to force dogfights and doesn't mind getting hit to do it.
Erceg seems solid enough, but he just hasn't done anything to impress me. There doesn't seem to be anything particularly elite in his game that wows me. He KO'd Schnell, sure, but that's more of a "welcome to the club" achievement than anything. After that fight I would expect him to get at least one to two more signature wins inside the division before he's in title talks... but instead he's being pushed into the spotlight solely because the division has no other compelling contender available at the moment. It just doesn't engender confidence in his chances for me because the dude hasn't done enough.
I guess he has a chance if his size and rangy boxing allow him to sprawl-n-brawl Pantoja across five rounds, gassing out the Brazilian and winning on volume and attrition down the stretch. He was actually a tricky grappler on the regional scene and we've seen flashes of that in the UFC... but Pantoja is elite on the mat and is willing to force dogfights and doesn't mind getting hit to do it.
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