Australia wakes to the news that a new sports star has been born, with rising MMA star Steve Erceg stunning David Dvorak to win in his UFC debut – and with only eight days notice.
Erceg, a West Australian fighter nicknamed ‘Astroboy’, who like Rocky from the movies, was a complete unknown before the UFC asked him to fight the Dvorak in Canada.
They gave him just eight days notice only to prepare but the mixed martial arts boy from Perth, grabbed his opportunity with both hands.
And wielding both his hands and feet with deadly precision he took his vaunted opponent apart.
Dvorak from the Czech Republic is ranked number 10 in the world and because this was a prelim fight on the undercard, UFC 289, he was considered a raging hot favourite.
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
Aussie unknown MMA fighter Steve Erceg (left) stuns the world with debut UFC win over Czech David Dvorak (right) in Canada
It was a shocking unanimous win to the Perth power hitter, who is pictured celebrating the win (right)
He was long odds-on to take this win but the super fit under-dog Aussie’s grit shown through right from the start when he clearly showed he wasn’t intimidated by the Octagon or his highly-ranked opponent.
‘I’m ecstatic,’ said the articulate 27-year-old Australian after the points decion, career-defining win in the flyweight division.
‘My mum didn’t want me to be a fighter, probably still doesn’t, but she comes to all my bouts and this is a win that has taught me a great deal.
‘I don’t know what the ranking people do (and) what they take into consideration so I don’t know if I will be ranked,’ Erceg said.
With UFC 293 coming up in September he is hoping for a ranking now that he is in the UFC holy of holies.
‘I hope I am but I’m just excited he was considered the number 10 best guy in the world and so for me to find out what I can do against somebody like that was the most exciting part for me.
‘I’m here to find out who the toughest guy is so I’m going to take on whoever.’
The stunning points decision win took Erceg’s now impressive record to 10-1, all his other wins coming in the lower-ranked MMA division.
from the opening moments, Dvorak was hellbent on cutting his unknown rival down with multiple calf kicks but the durability of the Aussie just kept him going forward and walking through the assault.
Both traded positive hard blows in the first round utilizing their strengths and game plan and it ended rather evenly.
The Australian bashed his rival with head shots and kicks throughout the bout which went the distance
Dvorak knew by the start of the second round he was in against a raging tiger who wasn’t going to back down.
Round two began with both fighters eager to get on with it – Erceg being the aggressor with Dvorak looking to counter strike.
The short notice fight didn’t look to be causing Erceg any cardio issues, as he consistently pressed forward.
Dvorak had changed his game plan by now and was attempting to win the fight on points. Astroboy wanted to belt him into submission.
Erceg landed a huge right hand that momentarily dropped Dvorak. The Czech brawler made it back to his feet but was then caught with a big right head kick that dropped him again.
As Dvorak dropped to the ground, Erceg dove onto him hoping to wrap up a guillotine but couldn’t quite sink it in. The round finished with the two making it back to their feet and trading heavy blows in the center of the Octagon.
How life as a fighter all started for the Aussie is a tale worth the telling as he wasn’t a tough guy or pugilist, instead a scholar. But, he was small and weedy and wanted to simply get stronger.
‘I always had that little man syndrome and when I was young I was a big wrestling fan.
‘There was a guy in the WWE called Brock Lesner, and he came over to the UFC and there was this whole promo thing about how enormous he was and how massive his hands were.
‘He’s a beast, he’s a monster and we have to make new gloves just for him to wear, blah, blah, blah they said, and he was pitted up against a guy called Frank Mir who as a normal human was a big guy at 191cm and 119kg but was a little guy compared to Brock.
‘Mir was getting absolutely mauled by Brock early on in the fight but then out of nowhere he put on a toehold or something on him, and finished the fight and I said to myself, I’m a little guy, whatever that was, I need to learn how to do that. So I looked around and found a gym.’
Erceg’s (left) nickname is Astroboy, and he was relentless in his pursuit of inflicting pain on his Top-10 ranked rival Dvorak
This was when his mum was opposed to him fighting.
‘She was definitely against it and she didn’t want me to fight and still now is often crying at my fights.’
After the bout in Vancouver, overnight, Astroboy would have brought tears of joy to her eyes.
Dvorak was hellbent on cutting his unknown rival down with multiple calf kicks but the durability of the Aussie just kept him going forward and walking through the assault.
Both traded positive hard blows in the first round utilizing their strengths and game plan and it ended rather evenly.
Dvorak knew then he was in against a raging tiger who wasn’t going to back down.
Round two began with both fighters eager to get on with it – Erceg being the aggressor with Dvorak looking to counter strike.
The short notice fight didn’t look to be causing Erceg any cardio issues, as he consistently pressed forward.
Dvorak had changed his game plan by now and was attempting to win the fight on points. ‘Astroboy’ wanted to belt him into submission.
Erceg landed a huge right hand that momentarily dropped Dvorak. The Czech brawler made it back to his feet but was then caught with a big right head kick that dropped him again.
As Dvorak dropped to the ground, Erceg looked to wrap up a guillotine but couldn’t quite sink it in. The round finished with the two making it back to their feet and trading strikes in the center of the Octagon.
At the end, the unknown Aussie’s hand was raised as a unanimous points victor, (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) setting him now a new career path in the UFC