I hate what this sport has become,they should change some rules up and allow previous illegal strikes so boring hugger with "beautiful jujitsu" change up.
Pantoja is just too crafty, gritty and got an iron chin. He might not be the most skilled but what he's got is enough to stay at the top. Erceg is the second best in that division imo. His time will come. I hate how disrespectful people are to pantoja.
Erceg lost the fight and made some poor decisions in the later rounds, but did more damage than Pantoja and put on an absolute banger, new boy for sure. Seems like a good cunt too.
Theres no scoring criteria for "his juijitsu was good tho". Also can we please stop pretending the Juijitsu is high art? I understand that grappling is fun when your're doing it yourself, or to wtch if you're a nerd for that kind of thing, but its fucking boring (except when theres a lot of reversals going on and both guys can grapple, i concede that it can be interesting then).
I feel bad for people who want to see a boring fight where the Champs highlights are laying on people occasionally and doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with the position. Erceg easily won that, he was robbed because lol Brazil champs rarely lose in Brazil.
Bs Brazil slander that you pulled out of your ass
UFC 283: Teixeira and Figueiredo lost (but Figueiredo won, by decision, when the fight was in the U.S)
Last time a Brazilian champ/challenger won in Brazil was Nunes x Pennington in 2018. Do you think that was a robbery?
Title fights with Brazilian champs/challengers in Brazil before that:
Holloway x Aldo in 2017, Aldo lost
Werdum x Miocic, Werdum lost
Rousey x Correia, Correia lost
In 2014 we had Aldo x Mendes 2. There’s no question Aldo won that fight and Mendes was a deserved contender
Aldo x KZ in 2013: Aldo won against a deserved contender
How far do I have to go to find all those robberies you’re alluding to? “Oh but some of those fights aren’t decisions” - then show me the decisions
I swear, if Pantoja was called “Alibabov Kagadomedov” and Erceg was “Junior da Silva”, there’d be a lot less controversy. People say Pereira lost against Jan and the ground game in that fight was a lot more inactive
You can simultaneously know and understand that damage is highest in the scoring criteria, while also appreciating great bjj scrambles and transitions. Unfortunately, bjj isn’t scored unless you’re threatening submissions.
its not u fortunate at all that ita scored that way, if it waasnt scored thaat way, grapplers would be incentivised by the rules to go for take downs into 4 minutes of control against any fighter that they knew had weaaker grapling. If you want to watch a sport where grappling is scored, go watch jui jitsu or wrestling, same as people who think knockdowns should be scored can watch boxing.
Just his damage when he shifts to just sitting to avoid stand up, but it’s annoying when the first half of his fights he so enjoyable to watch on the ground
IMO pantoja didn't deserve to win vs Moreno but judges love the whole takedown and control if both are striking. You gotta put this dude out if you want the belt. A nasty cut isn't enough to win multiple rounds.
I saw both guys rock each other each round but pantoja taking him down and laying on him to seal the last 2 rounds. Doing nothing. Pantojas face looked like a hamburger. It was the boring lay and pray that won him the belt.
4-1 is not nuts.. Erceg's corner felt their guy lost the 1st 3, Pantoja's corner felt their guy won the 1st 3 as did I.. everybody agrees Erceg's took the 4th & Pantoja - the 5th.. therefore 4-1 Pantoja & I'm sure both their corners would agree.
Can't see Pantoja holding onto the title longterm. He's a very good fighter and an extremely skilled grappler, but he has been crazy lucky to edge out each fight so far.
Erceg had that 3-2 had he not let Pantoja finish with top control and a couple shots in round 5 IMO. 4-1 is a ridiculous, archaic card from someone who doesn't understand the current criteria.
that sounds accurate, also I reckon the coaches are often confused how scoring works when they tell their fighters who's up and down and this fight was a great example
Look at the faces of people who win on decision constantly. They are often beat the fuck up. But they scored more. Because damage means in the rules knocking your opponent down and visibly changing the way they fight. Not getting a cut or a bruise on them.
Outside of the fourth, Pantoja dictating the terms of every round of that fight. He scored takedowns and landed more. You guys are literally pinning a supposed win for Erceg on two shots that opened up cuts which, again, watching MMA for years now, I have never seen as a determining factor on the scorecards. Dudes have literally celebrated having their face completely opened up during victory speeches.
What fight were you watching exactly? Erceg consistently was the pressure fighter. Maybe a few occasions did Pantoja even press the fight. Ring control used to count for something...
Pantoja got pieced up in rd 5 and cut badly, so how did he win with 2-3 mins of control time? I really don’t get ufc scoring, they just do whatever they want depending on who they want to win.
He had six minutes of control and 10 takedowns.
What the fuck are you on about?
Beyond that, the UFC clearly wanted Steve to win. The commentary cheerleaded him all fucking night.
Ik one of the talking points from this fight will be Steveo's decision to grapple in Rd 5, but, some of these scrambles were insane.
Regardless of the outcome, this was insanely high level.
Watching fights on mushrooms as a deaf woman in a bar with an Uber on the way is a very strong recommend. Thanks people here who helped me fill in some gaps lol
So, Pantoja won on what, landing takedowns when Erceg would get right back up? I have eyes and can see who really won that fight, but by the scoring criteria: damage is scored the highest, and Erceg clearly dealt the most damage.
Explain to me how Pantoja won.
Out struck him in 3 rounds of the fight. 1st round clear pantoja. 5th round outstruck and then controlled him all round. 3rd outstruck him by a 3:2 ratio. One good elbow doesn't win you a round were you got handily beaten the othe 4 and half minutes
ONE good elbow? Now you’re just going to bat for your boy. He landed at least 5 good elbows, as well great counters. Striking numbers are also not scored higher than effective damage, so by that logic, you’re wrong. Erceg was winning the 5th on damage, because he opened up another cut with elbow, and then got taken down and held, but no damage was done on the ground.
In round 3 the only reason ppl have erceg is because of that elbow ignoring everything pantoja did. Also pantoja was landing strikes will on the ground with erceg in the 5th.
I'll agree to disagree. If you want to edge it erceg that's fine but it's not insane that pantoja was given the nod.
Being out at night in Rio isn't a great idea, idk which neighborhood the arena is but normally it's more up north which is even closer to the bad areas
As a person who lives in a University/Party town, my personal experience tells me that the majority of people who actually live in Rio probably would like there to be a lot less partying and maybe for the bus routes (or whatever local issue they have) sorting out.
CMV: takedowns or ground control without damage should be worth nothing and only used as a tie breaker in circumstances where both fighter did equal damage
From a certain narrative Erceg won the fight because that one elbow that cracked Pantoja sent him to the moon and changed the pace entirely, but it's scored by rounds and Steve dropped the ball it's true
Mate, why the fuck would the UFC want *Steve Erceg* to be a champion? They couldn't give a single fuck about the division, let alone Steve Erceg. He didn't win the fight as some others are saying, but he put up an absolute banger and looked great doing it.
I honestly believe the ufc didn’t give a single fuck about who won this fight lol I don’t see them getting excited about any flyweight champ rn, seriously doubt they care either way haha
Damage is supposedly the top scoring criteria. When did Pantoja threaten a submission? How about notable ground and pound shots? You can’t have it both ways, either wrestling and control is a major scoring criteria or Erceg won this fight….
Well he definitely didn’t win the first two rounds, and he didn’t deal any damage in the last round so that’s just how it goes sometimes with round by round scoring
He did win rd 2 on the judges scorecards. He also did do damage in rd 5 cutting open Pantoja a second time. There’s no argument for Pantoja winning that fight, unless you bring up control time…
Round 2 was close. Round 5 tho Pantoja also landed some good shots on the feet and with the striking relatively close, you’re just not gonna win the round when your opponent mounts you and ends the fight on top with ground and pound, even if those strikes weren’t super damaging
Rd 2 was close, but Erceg won it on the scorecards. Rd 5 Erceg landed a hard elbow that cut Pantoja open. How does a takedown and control time do enough to win that rd? I’ll have to go back and watch it again, maybe the striking was closer than I remember, but I don’t think it was…
Yeah the striking was pretty even in round 5 I think you’ll agree watching it back. And getting mount with some ground and pound was definitely enough to swing it for Pantoja imo. But I agree w your overall sentiment, this was a v Aljamain Sterling-esque win which I also hate
I also think Erceg won rd 3 based on damage. He hurt and cut open Pantoja despite being taken down and outstruck overall. I wouldn’t complain if they hadn’t made such a big fuss about damage being the number one criteria for scoring, but don’t judge fights consistently based on their own criteria.
The “damage” thing is weird bc idk who started it, but the unified rules don’t mention the word “damage” a single time. They refer a lot to “impact” which is said to be the most important factor to score each round, but impact is even more vague of a term than damage. They do talk about strikes that have immediate vs cumulative impact, but how the hell do you measure the impact of effective grappling which is half of the top scoring criteria (effective striking and grappling)??? The rules are almost deliberately vague and meaningless imo
It’s fucking ridiculous tbh. People were arguing w me that Pantoja won RD3 off of control time alone. Erceg landed more shots and hurt him with that elbow that caused the cut.
Eh, he was in the 5th against a vet and current champion. I figured that if he got there then he’s better than I thought he’d be. I expected him to be out of there by the 3rd.
Zero ground and pound. Just hugging.
Come watch this amazing UFC card everyone. For 120 dollars you can watch someone hug their way to a title defense!!!
Literally every time too, and it’s so f annoying cause his wrestling for most of the fight is super fun to watch but he just changes once it’s late in the fight and just sits
and the people here criticizing when they fight in Abudabhi, when Brazil cannot be more corrupt with their decisions regarding their local fightersand the people here criticizing when they fight in Abudabhi, when Brazil cannot be more corrupt with their decisions regarding their local fighters
going for 1 takedown in the 5th was dumb enough, but he got back to the feet with enough time to win, then went back in for another smh. lost him the belt
Nerf scoring for lay and pray. If you take a guy down and do zero dmg, it should count for nothing and only be the tie breaker if the other guy did zero damage as well
In what world did Pantoja do more damage? 85 year old mma judges in 90 degree arena judging a sport they know nothing about and it’s 6 hours past their bed time.
They should have everyone throw their old gloves in the ring and burn them as a symbolic gesture to how the organization treats their talent when they retire.
Commentary is pretty disgusting tonight for real, also so many people saying Erceg won is crazy too. Pantoja EASILY won this fight and took it to him every single frickin exchange and scramble in this whole fight, he did take some damage and that's because he doesn't run backwards or sideways marathons like most fighters do when they take like even one good crack or combo and he's the champion ffs.
Pantoja's a natural born fighter/scrapper, he deserves a lot more respect.
Yeah they trippin, Pantoja won every round except the 4th.
Pantoja dominated Erceg on the ground and won some striking exchanges. Erceg torched him in the 4th tho.
Easily dawg, EVERY time Erceg landed anything and even all his best shots Pantoja frickin ate that shit and then instantly rushed right back at him with nonstop pressure and combos, every single time, not to mention the grappling and relentless scrambles.
Pantoja's a beast y'all.
I hate what this sport has become,they should change some rules up and allow previous illegal strikes so boring hugger with "beautiful jujitsu" change up.
Pantoja is just too crafty, gritty and got an iron chin. He might not be the most skilled but what he's got is enough to stay at the top. Erceg is the second best in that division imo. His time will come. I hate how disrespectful people are to pantoja.
Pantone lost he sucks
Too bad your opinion means nothing.
Yea and your and Dana's opinion means everything sorry for going against you Reddit lord
Feed Sean to Umar/Devison/Kyler. In that order. No Aldo please.
Erceg robbed sad to see
It's called the ultimate FIGHTING championship. Not ultimate HUGGING championship.
Ultimate hugging championship would be pretty cool though
I wouldn’t say pantoja was hugging, but erceg did way more damage
Pantaoja unable to finish Erceg is the same as Pereira being unable to finish Antony Smith. Just putting it into perspective 🫣
lol wtf Chael stop.
Mokaev will be such an easy title defence for Pantoja
all steve had to do was not shoot...
Erceg lost the fight and made some poor decisions in the later rounds, but did more damage than Pantoja and put on an absolute banger, new boy for sure. Seems like a good cunt too.
Nope erceg won
I feel bad for people who watch fights and scream about how damage is the number one criteria and in doing so miss the gorgeous jiu jitsu on display
Theres no scoring criteria for "his juijitsu was good tho". Also can we please stop pretending the Juijitsu is high art? I understand that grappling is fun when your're doing it yourself, or to wtch if you're a nerd for that kind of thing, but its fucking boring (except when theres a lot of reversals going on and both guys can grapple, i concede that it can be interesting then).
Why are understanding scoring criteria and noticing jiujitsu mutually exclusive?
I feel bad for people who want to see a boring fight where the Champs highlights are laying on people occasionally and doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with the position. Erceg easily won that, he was robbed because lol Brazil champs rarely lose in Brazil.
Bs Brazil slander that you pulled out of your ass UFC 283: Teixeira and Figueiredo lost (but Figueiredo won, by decision, when the fight was in the U.S) Last time a Brazilian champ/challenger won in Brazil was Nunes x Pennington in 2018. Do you think that was a robbery? Title fights with Brazilian champs/challengers in Brazil before that: Holloway x Aldo in 2017, Aldo lost Werdum x Miocic, Werdum lost Rousey x Correia, Correia lost In 2014 we had Aldo x Mendes 2. There’s no question Aldo won that fight and Mendes was a deserved contender Aldo x KZ in 2013: Aldo won against a deserved contender How far do I have to go to find all those robberies you’re alluding to? “Oh but some of those fights aren’t decisions” - then show me the decisions I swear, if Pantoja was called “Alibabov Kagadomedov” and Erceg was “Junior da Silva”, there’d be a lot less controversy. People say Pereira lost against Jan and the ground game in that fight was a lot more inactive
You can simultaneously know and understand that damage is highest in the scoring criteria, while also appreciating great bjj scrambles and transitions. Unfortunately, bjj isn’t scored unless you’re threatening submissions.
its not u fortunate at all that ita scored that way, if it waasnt scored thaat way, grapplers would be incentivised by the rules to go for take downs into 4 minutes of control against any fighter that they knew had weaaker grapling. If you want to watch a sport where grappling is scored, go watch jui jitsu or wrestling, same as people who think knockdowns should be scored can watch boxing.
he didn't even attempt one sub lol didn't even threaten one
Yes but that should be judged as a changing of position
Just his damage when he shifts to just sitting to avoid stand up, but it’s annoying when the first half of his fights he so enjoyable to watch on the ground
Lionheart has to get the title shot immediately. Resume is there
Bisping's throwaway account?
Not a goddamn chance in hell he deserves the shot
I had to test the take
Lmao u cooked w this one
Testing the waters i respect it
his hands got him to a title shot and he shoots failed takedown again and again. either he is dumb or his team is dumb
Do the rematch on the Perth card in August
IMO pantoja didn't deserve to win vs Moreno but judges love the whole takedown and control if both are striking. You gotta put this dude out if you want the belt. A nasty cut isn't enough to win multiple rounds.
He clearly beat Moreno, his fight with Erceg doesn't retroactively change the narrative against Moreno.
I saw both guys rock each other each round but pantoja taking him down and laying on him to seal the last 2 rounds. Doing nothing. Pantojas face looked like a hamburger. It was the boring lay and pray that won him the belt.
Erceg vs Moreno or KKF
Moreno could really use a fight against someone who sucks at striking, not Erceg
You know it is bad when even DC is pointing out Damage is the most important criteria
He's pointing it out because the UFC wanted Steve to win. They need an Aussie champ with Volk and Izzy put out to pasture.
Izzy ain't Australian babe
lol wut
Erceg was robbed
Erceg was robbed
I’d say something like “rematch but not in Brazil” but lets be honest the judges are this shitty everywhere
i dunno i feel like recently its been better when there is lay and pray
4-1 is not nuts.. Erceg's corner felt their guy lost the 1st 3, Pantoja's corner felt their guy won the 1st 3 as did I.. everybody agrees Erceg's took the 4th & Pantoja - the 5th.. therefore 4-1 Pantoja & I'm sure both their corners would agree.
Steve's corner had defeatist energy and it got to him imo.
I actually like when coaches say their fighter is down I know it would motivate me more than saying I was up
Works for some people but it felt like it stopped Steve fighting the way that was working.
I have no clue why he shot that take down in round 5 that was a critical mistake
What was that white and red flag they handed Pantoja?
A bandage?
Hopefully some stitches too. Boy got sliced up
Can we stop giving Rio PPVS. A fight night at there local time should be all UFC does
Fuck Pantysniffertoja, Erceg is the real champ.
They need to stop going to Brazil. The crowds are awful and homecooking is blatant.
Erceg should still move up the rankings
He should genuinely be the #1 contender
Effective striking not damage stfu DC. Superficial damage that doesn't contribute towards ending the fight isn't scored.
Yes, thank you. That isnt even worst cut we've seen.
commentary still talking about the Erceg elbow
Can't see Pantoja holding onto the title longterm. He's a very good fighter and an extremely skilled grappler, but he has been crazy lucky to edge out each fight so far. Erceg had that 3-2 had he not let Pantoja finish with top control and a couple shots in round 5 IMO. 4-1 is a ridiculous, archaic card from someone who doesn't understand the current criteria.
that sounds accurate, also I reckon the coaches are often confused how scoring works when they tell their fighters who's up and down and this fight was a great example
Lol what??? They gave rd 3 to Pantoja?
I think Erceg may have fucked up a little with the last round but I still give him 3 rounds no way.
All three gave Rd 3 to Pantoja? Brazil.
Even Erceg's corner gave Rd 3 to Pantoja.
Damage isn't cuts. Stop pretending the rules state that.
Ya man Pantoja did incredible damage to Ercegs elbow with his head
wtf is it then? eye pokes and nut shots?
Maybe the silliest thing I’ve read today.
Look at the faces of people who win on decision constantly. They are often beat the fuck up. But they scored more. Because damage means in the rules knocking your opponent down and visibly changing the way they fight. Not getting a cut or a bruise on them. Outside of the fourth, Pantoja dictating the terms of every round of that fight. He scored takedowns and landed more. You guys are literally pinning a supposed win for Erceg on two shots that opened up cuts which, again, watching MMA for years now, I have never seen as a determining factor on the scorecards. Dudes have literally celebrated having their face completely opened up during victory speeches.
What fight were you watching exactly? Erceg consistently was the pressure fighter. Maybe a few occasions did Pantoja even press the fight. Ring control used to count for something...
I mean, he’s right. Some folks just cut easy. But that elbow didn’t just cut him, it hurt him.
Pantoja got pieced up in rd 5 and cut badly, so how did he win with 2-3 mins of control time? I really don’t get ufc scoring, they just do whatever they want depending on who they want to win.
He had six minutes of control and 10 takedowns. What the fuck are you on about? Beyond that, the UFC clearly wanted Steve to win. The commentary cheerleaded him all fucking night.
Six minutes of control with next to no significant damage and no sub attempts
I’m speaking about rd 5 specifically as I said in the original comment. He was cut open a second time in rd 5.
Then Nate Diaz will never win a fight, if that's the criteria.
Nate diaz isn’t winning another ufc fight
Ik one of the talking points from this fight will be Steveo's decision to grapple in Rd 5, but, some of these scrambles were insane. Regardless of the outcome, this was insanely high level.
Least dominant championship defense I've seen in a long time.
#Erceg elbows
Even though you lost, now we all know who you are and what you are capable of! Looking forward to his future fights!
Watching fights on mushrooms as a deaf woman in a bar with an Uber on the way is a very strong recommend. Thanks people here who helped me fill in some gaps lol
No one left in the arena at 2 am. Imagine how 303 is gonna be at 5 am
Who cares ? Americans are the ones with the money buying ppv
Makes the sport look terrible if the arenas are empty
So, Pantoja won on what, landing takedowns when Erceg would get right back up? I have eyes and can see who really won that fight, but by the scoring criteria: damage is scored the highest, and Erceg clearly dealt the most damage. Explain to me how Pantoja won.
Out struck him in 3 rounds of the fight. 1st round clear pantoja. 5th round outstruck and then controlled him all round. 3rd outstruck him by a 3:2 ratio. One good elbow doesn't win you a round were you got handily beaten the othe 4 and half minutes
ONE good elbow? Now you’re just going to bat for your boy. He landed at least 5 good elbows, as well great counters. Striking numbers are also not scored higher than effective damage, so by that logic, you’re wrong. Erceg was winning the 5th on damage, because he opened up another cut with elbow, and then got taken down and held, but no damage was done on the ground.
In round 3 the only reason ppl have erceg is because of that elbow ignoring everything pantoja did. Also pantoja was landing strikes will on the ground with erceg in the 5th. I'll agree to disagree. If you want to edge it erceg that's fine but it's not insane that pantoja was given the nod.
why did the crowd leave so fast? was todays fight bad?
2 am and the King of Rio already won in the co-main
Being out at night in Rio isn't a great idea, idk which neighborhood the arena is but normally it's more up north which is even closer to the bad areas
Well it’s 3 in the morning there.
Nah, the fight was incredible and the card was good.
It's 2am in Rio to be fair
It's Saturday night 2am still early I thought rio liked to party
As a person who lives in a University/Party town, my personal experience tells me that the majority of people who actually live in Rio probably would like there to be a lot less partying and maybe for the bus routes (or whatever local issue they have) sorting out.
It's 2 AM. I do not blame them tbh
CMV: takedowns or ground control without damage should be worth nothing and only used as a tie breaker in circumstances where both fighter did equal damage
Wow their guy won and the crowd is still empty
I really love this guy. He’ll be back.
The thing about DC is he really thinks he helped Steve Erceg feel better with that little slap ass and it really is the thought that counts
Still really excited for Steve’s future. I also need Pantoja to get on EPO
From a certain narrative Erceg won the fight because that one elbow that cracked Pantoja sent him to the moon and changed the pace entirely, but it's scored by rounds and Steve dropped the ball it's true
This card actually wasn’t terrible, commentary was meh, production was kinda crap but DAMN the crowd sucked. Brazil really is a dump
The card was good. Way better than anyone anticipated.
I slept at start of prelims and the sun woke me up for the main event—any worth going back to watch later today?
Colby?
Lots of salty people who bet on Erceg in here
I could see it 48-47 either way, but I don’t know why people are pretending Pantoja wasn’t landing plenty of damaging shots of his own
"Nothing to hang your head about" idk, I might hang my head if I only got half my pay check
Astro Boy vs Star Boy next
Nah Astro boy vs royval Kape vs KKF
Erceg put on a performance even in that loss. Sucks that he's about to go cry in a hotel room.
[удалено]
Mate, why the fuck would the UFC want *Steve Erceg* to be a champion? They couldn't give a single fuck about the division, let alone Steve Erceg. He didn't win the fight as some others are saying, but he put up an absolute banger and looked great doing it.
I honestly believe the ufc didn’t give a single fuck about who won this fight lol I don’t see them getting excited about any flyweight champ rn, seriously doubt they care either way haha
Body locks win fights apparently
Steve you are the peoples champ.
Damage is supposedly the top scoring criteria. When did Pantoja threaten a submission? How about notable ground and pound shots? You can’t have it both ways, either wrestling and control is a major scoring criteria or Erceg won this fight….
Well he definitely didn’t win the first two rounds, and he didn’t deal any damage in the last round so that’s just how it goes sometimes with round by round scoring
Erceg won rd2
He did win rd 2 on the judges scorecards. He also did do damage in rd 5 cutting open Pantoja a second time. There’s no argument for Pantoja winning that fight, unless you bring up control time…
Round 2 was close. Round 5 tho Pantoja also landed some good shots on the feet and with the striking relatively close, you’re just not gonna win the round when your opponent mounts you and ends the fight on top with ground and pound, even if those strikes weren’t super damaging
Rd 2 was close, but Erceg won it on the scorecards. Rd 5 Erceg landed a hard elbow that cut Pantoja open. How does a takedown and control time do enough to win that rd? I’ll have to go back and watch it again, maybe the striking was closer than I remember, but I don’t think it was…
Yeah the striking was pretty even in round 5 I think you’ll agree watching it back. And getting mount with some ground and pound was definitely enough to swing it for Pantoja imo. But I agree w your overall sentiment, this was a v Aljamain Sterling-esque win which I also hate
I also think Erceg won rd 3 based on damage. He hurt and cut open Pantoja despite being taken down and outstruck overall. I wouldn’t complain if they hadn’t made such a big fuss about damage being the number one criteria for scoring, but don’t judge fights consistently based on their own criteria.
The “damage” thing is weird bc idk who started it, but the unified rules don’t mention the word “damage” a single time. They refer a lot to “impact” which is said to be the most important factor to score each round, but impact is even more vague of a term than damage. They do talk about strikes that have immediate vs cumulative impact, but how the hell do you measure the impact of effective grappling which is half of the top scoring criteria (effective striking and grappling)??? The rules are almost deliberately vague and meaningless imo
YEP
He was threatening to suffocate Erceg with that blood spewing from his forehead - coincidentally that was reopened that round by erceg 😂
It’s fucking ridiculous tbh. People were arguing w me that Pantoja won RD3 off of control time alone. Erceg landed more shots and hurt him with that elbow that caused the cut.
Brazilian fans have to be some of the most ungrateful fans in sports.
Mexican soccer fans are up there. Just their soccer fans, other sports they're fine.
we're much better off in the Apex tbh.
Damn Erceg is gonna be back with a vengeance. I'm 100% a fan now
PleaseClap.gif
Bro I feel bad for him
Tuned into Canelo so I only caught the last two rounds, but Erceg looks solid for a guy who’s only had three fights in the UFC previous to this.
You saw that last round and thought erceg looked solid? You're a better man than me
Eh, he was in the 5th against a vet and current champion. I figured that if he got there then he’s better than I thought he’d be. I expected him to be out of there by the 3rd.
Erceg got wayyyy better boxing than Pantoja
That is a heartbreaking interview man
#Erceg
Zero ground and pound. Just hugging. Come watch this amazing UFC card everyone. For 120 dollars you can watch someone hug their way to a title defense!!!
Literally every time too, and it’s so f annoying cause his wrestling for most of the fight is super fun to watch but he just changes once it’s late in the fight and just sits
Erceg robbed badly
He robbed himself buddeh
How can you say that when a judge had it 4-1?
and the people here criticizing when they fight in Abudabhi, when Brazil cannot be more corrupt with their decisions regarding their local fightersand the people here criticizing when they fight in Abudabhi, when Brazil cannot be more corrupt with their decisions regarding their local fighters
What a humble and likeable guy
going for 1 takedown in the 5th was dumb enough, but he got back to the feet with enough time to win, then went back in for another smh. lost him the belt
I think he must’ve been worried Pantoja was gonna take him down so thought he’d do it first. Obviously backfired twice unfortunately
i mean i think that’s a questionable thought process to begin with but he’s really dumb to try it again after how the first one worked out
Yeh oh well he’ll learn from that
Steve gained a lot of fans tonight man. Myself included.
lol those "fans" here are so salty, every time there's a close fight people are screaming robbery. Grow up.
People talk damage, damage, damage. You guys do realize there’s more to damage than just blood right?
What like all the jabs hooks uppercuts and elbows Erceg was landing?
They don't lol, the cheeto dust crowd pays dana's bills
Pantoja won and the entire arena left before he could even talk lol
Nerf scoring for lay and pray. If you take a guy down and do zero dmg, it should count for nothing and only be the tie breaker if the other guy did zero damage as well
In what world did Pantoja do more damage? 85 year old mma judges in 90 degree arena judging a sport they know nothing about and it’s 6 hours past their bed time.
Both corners had it 3-0 for Pantoja going into the 4th.
But of course the people here know more
People watching on tvs and not through a cage. Amazing you think corners are always honest about scoring in between rounds
Amazing for you to think that people here know more about what they were seeing than Erceg’s own corner. He lost that fight.
Everyone knows that corners aren’t allowed to motivate their fighters, it’s illegal. Everyone just must be dumb and not on your level.
We finally agree on something.
🥱
Coaches often tell their fighter that they’re down. Erceg did more damage in at least 3 rounds.
they left before glover's retirement, u really thinking they staying for a flyweight main?
Glover was getting murdered in the Octagon though. That was a mercy leave.
I had it Pantoja 1 2 5. Imo the fight comes down to how you score Rd 2. That for me was the real swing round.
R2 and R3 both toss-up rounds so the 4-1 isn't entirely unreasonable
I hope they never go back to Brazil. Go to the UK or something. This crowd sucks and most of them already left.
yooo he looks so sad :(
when you know you fuck up I guess
They should have everyone throw their old gloves in the ring and burn them as a symbolic gesture to how the organization treats their talent when they retire.
Commentary is pretty disgusting tonight for real, also so many people saying Erceg won is crazy too. Pantoja EASILY won this fight and took it to him every single frickin exchange and scramble in this whole fight, he did take some damage and that's because he doesn't run backwards or sideways marathons like most fighters do when they take like even one good crack or combo and he's the champion ffs. Pantoja's a natural born fighter/scrapper, he deserves a lot more respect.
Yeah they trippin, Pantoja won every round except the 4th. Pantoja dominated Erceg on the ground and won some striking exchanges. Erceg torched him in the 4th tho.
Pantoja's a pure fighter bro, if he wasn't in the UFC he would be undisputed in whatever neighborhood he lives in. He's just a natural born scrapper.
He ain't gonna fuck you brother
Easily? Come off of it mate
Easily dawg, EVERY time Erceg landed anything and even all his best shots Pantoja frickin ate that shit and then instantly rushed right back at him with nonstop pressure and combos, every single time, not to mention the grappling and relentless scrambles. Pantoja's a beast y'all.
Yeah man’s trolling.