News Alexandre Pantoja to defend Flyweight title against Steve Erceg at UFC 301

[IneedSometop]

Lmaoo Mokaev acting upset and shocked by this as if the ufc didn’t go to them before Erceg…95% chance he/his team turned the TS down

 

[Soggust]

If you’re shilling this, you are part of the problem.

Hope we give Paddy a title shot at 155 next because “there are no real contenders” and “it’s a business trying to sell tickets”

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

If you’re shilling this, you are part of the problem.

Hope we give Paddy a title shot at 155 next because “there are no real contenders” and “it’s a business trying to sell tickets”

The only other one that makes sense they approached is Albazi but "Ramadan brother".
Beat up Kape and the Brandons already, snatched Perez's neck. KKF coming off two losses and AWOL. Nicolas just got KO'd stiff which is who they really would have liked for a Brazil vs Brazil title fight, but he's waiting to fight Kape while Kape is fighting the buffet.

So it came down to Albazi, Mokaev, Erceg, and if all else failed Tim Elliot? Albazi and Mokaev are out because of Ramadan, with Mokaev not showing much last fight to make anyone think he wouldn't get mauled.

 

[Soggust]

The only other one that makes sense they approached is Albazi but "Ramadan brother".
Beat up Kape and the Brandons already, snatched Perez's neck. KKF coming off two losses and AWOL. Nicolas just got KO'd stiff which is who they really would have liked for a Brazil vs Brazil title fight, but he's waiting to fight Kape while Kape is fighting the buffet.

So it came down to Albazi, Mokaev, Erceg, and if all else failed Tim Elliot? Albazi and Mokaev are out because of Ramadan, with Mokaev not showing much last fight to make anyone think he wouldn't get mauled.

Let's assume Albazi is injured and ignore him, because he obviously has the strongest case imo. Let's also ignore Kape, although I want to say UFC has a precedent of still offering title fights to guys who miss weight (thinking Yoel but too lazy to research).

Mokaev is upset so he clearly didn't decline the offer over Ramadan.

Mokaev has 4 finishes in 6 UFC fights. Erceg has 1 finish in 3 UFC fights. They both have 4 decisions in 13 fights in their career. So, I'm not sure I think Erceg is necessarily a better finisher, but even as a contender, we have to default to the higher ranked and more experienced fighter, right? Like, I think a #6 vs champ is bad enough, but we are going to go to #10 because......"last fight was boring"? That's not even consistent for UFC standards (Chito had boring fight before title shot), even if we pretend that's a valid excuse.

Furthermore, even if I'm wrong altogether, it just seems to me that if the champ is fighting the #10 guy in the division after 1 title defense, it smells like a planning flaw in general. Like, the UFC has no problem stalling other divisions to make bs fights (covington, chito), but here they are clearly forced to reach for a fight because they have to headline Brazil (since they couldn't get 300 main and had to steal Alex) and didn't backup plan Pantoja better than the #10 guy.

It sounds like terrible matchmaking one way or the other, imo.

 

[xhaydenx]

If you’re shilling this, you are part of the problem.

Hope we give Paddy a title shot at 155 next because “there are no real contenders” and “it’s a business trying to sell tickets”

It's more just the timing and the division being a bit all over the place right now.

Royval just won but already lost badly to Pantoja.

Moreno just lost.

Albazi is ramadan.

Kara France coming off a loss.

Kape is too fat. Last win was against a nobody.

Mokaev just fought. Looked not great against a guy who hasn't won a fight since before Mokaev debuted as a pro 11 fights ago . . .

Perez just lost. Shouldn't even be ranked. No wins in 4 years.

Elliot already booked.

And that's the top 10. No one beyond that makes any sense, so they're left with Mokaev who looked not great or Erceg who scored an amazing knockout.

It's not the best booking, and it certainly wouldn't have happened if there were better options ready to go for when they want Pantoja to defend again, but whatever, it's a fun fight.

 

[Soggust]

Mokaev just fought. Looked not great against a guy who hasn't won a fight since before Mokaev debuted as a pro 11 fights ago . . .

This is the one I'm contesting.

Because Mokaev won. That's all that should matter, imo. The rankings shouldn't only matter when it's convenient.

Because the precedent is the problem. Why have rankings at all if we are going to subjectively ignore them?

If we book this, there is legit no reason to ever give Belal or Merab a title shot. Because they aren't entertaining, despite winning.

Now, some people will look at that as a feature, not a bug, but I'll be over here high horsin' and thumpin' the good rulebook of the UFC

 

[Oscar Madison]

Pantoja winning at Flyweight Whac-a-Mole.

He's not in charge of the moles.

Keep whacking.

 

[glenn777]

Serves Mokhaev right doing his best Aljo impression last fight.

 

[xhaydenx]

This is the one I'm contesting.

Because Mokaev won. That's all that should matter, imo. The rankings shouldn't only matter when it's convenient.

Because the precedent is the problem. Why have rankings at all if we are going to subjectively ignore them?

If we book this, there is legit no reason to ever give Belal or Merab a title shot. Because they aren't entertaining, despite winning.

Now, some people will look at that as a feature, not a bug, but I'll be over here high horsin' and thumpin' the good rulebook of the UFC

The rankings don't matter at all though. They're a marketing tool for the UFC and the UFC adjust them for that purpose.

For example, Perez had gone 0-2 since 2020. Since Perez's last win Mokaev had debuted as a pro and gone 11-0. Even so, Perez actually moved up a spot above Mokaev before they fought. That makes no sense at all of course if the rankings are serious, but the UFC did this so it made it look like Mokaev was fighting up in the rankings.

They didn't a similar thing with Nate when he fought Conor one time. Wasn't even ranked or something and then all of a sudden he was 6th or whatever so giving Conor a title shot with a win didn't seem overly crazy to casuals.

So don't buy into the rankings too much, bro. They're just marketing.

It really just comes down to how a fighter looked, and also demographics.

The UFC have no aussie champions now, and we're a decent sized market. They'd love to get another aussie champ if they can. This is probably their best chance at the moment. Volk probably isn't beating Topuria, and even if he did, then they lose that Spanish/Geogian demographic a bit that they have with Topuria.

If they lose Pantoja, they ain't gonna care. No one really cares about Pantoja all that much, and they already have plenty going in brazil.

If they push Mokaev then it's just another arab/muslim champ. They already have Islam for that. Ankalaev is right up there at LHW as well. Umar looms at BW.

Also, Mokaev doesn't even represent those areas. He represents England. The casual English fan ain't getting behind someone like Mokaev, especially when he's just a wrestler.

 

[The_Renaissance]

Good for Erceg but sheer desperation + thin division = this I guess. Pantoja wrecks him

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Idk I’m hyped. Erceg looked hella good smashing Matt schnell

 

[Soggust]

The rankings don't matter at all though. They're a marketing tool for the UFC and the UFC adjust them for that purpose.

For example, Perez had gone 0-2 since 2020. Since Perez's last win Mokaev had debuted as a pro and gone 11-0. Even so, Perez actually moved up a spot above Mokaev before they fought. That makes no sense at all of course if the rankings are serious, but the UFC did this so it made it look like Mokaev was fighting up in the rankings.

They didn't a similar thing with Nate when he fought Conor one time. Wasn't even ranked or something and then all of a sudden he was 6th or whatever so giving Conor a title shot with a win didn't seem overly crazy to casuals.

So don't buy into the rankings too much, bro. They're just marketing.

It really just comes down to how a fighter looked, and also demographics.

I don't think you are wrong at all, but I think you should be wrong haha.

Like, is there any "sport" outside of combat sports where we forego tangible results in exchange for sales?

For example, if Tiger misses the cut in golf but we just want more eyeballs on the Tour, could we just kick out some other boring golfer, subtract a couple strokes and sneak him in?

Or as I suggested in the original take, why not just throw Paddy in a title shot against Islam in Liverpool if he manages to get a nice KO next fight against some fringe top 15er and has enough hype?

The idea that popularity should drive results in a "sport" is weird to me. If we acknowledge it's "sports entertainment" more like the WWE, I'd be more accepting, but that's not how the UFC brands itself by having rankings in the first place, pretending to be a legitimate competitive league.

 

[JustBleed69]

Very VERY strange match-making & definitely more deserving contenders in the division.

Pantoja mops the floor with Erceg imo

 

[Koala]

Idk I’m hyped. Erceg looked hella good smashing Matt schnell

Also hyped
He's good and can bang
Pantoja has beaten Royval and Moreno multiple times, Albazi is injured until autumn, Kara France is 0-2 and already lost to Pantoja, Kape missed weight, Nicolau is 0-1, Mokaev just had a snoozer, Alex Perez and Elliott are semi-retired

 

[The_Renaissance]

Very VERY strange match-making & definitely more deserving contenders in the division.

Pantoja mops the floor with Erceg imo

Yeah. Erceg looks OK but thats it. His biggest win is knocking out Matt Schnell which isn't hard. He's gonna find the leap in competition ridiculous. Pantoja finishes him inside 8mins.

 

[Haj01]

Who is this Steven Eggnog? Looks like a random stranger pulled off from the street.

Dana saw him in the crowd and was like today's your lucky day.

 

[Jormungandr]

Mokaev is doing very little offensively, more excited to see Erceg. Yeah it's kinda odd for him and his 3 UFC fights to get the shot but seeing where the rest of the division is at, it's reasonable. No need to be malding over this, Mokaev will get his eventually, Erceg fighting Pantoja or not is irrelephant.

 

[BlackBradPaisley]

Crazy even though Erceg is ranked 10th currently coming off a win on Matt Schnell.



Via Ariel Helwani

Ecreg got that “i unno” look on his face haha.
Mans looks just as ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ as the rest of us.

 

[Koala]

He looks like Prison Mike

 

[vinnie245]

When Erceg got the call for the title shot.