Australia is waking up 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 just eight days notice.
Erceg, a Western 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 only eight days notice to prepare, but the mixed martial arts kid from Perth grabbed his chance with both hands.
And wielding both his hands and feet with deadly precision, he dismembered his vaunted adversary.
Dvorak from the Czech Republic is ranked #10 in the world and because this was a prelim fight on the undercard, UFC 289, he was considered a hot favorite.
Aussie unknown MMA fighter Steve Erceg (left) stuns the world with debut UFC victory over Czech David Dvorak (right) in Canada
It was a shocking unanimous win for the Perth powerhitter, who is pictured celebrating victory (right)
He had a long chance to take this win, but the super-fit underdog Aussie’s grit came out from the start as he clearly showed he wasn’t intimidated by the Octagon or his high-ranking opponent.
“I’m ecstatic,” said the eloquent 27-year-old Australian after the points decision, career-defining win in the flyweight division.
“My mom didn’t want me to be a fighter, and she probably still doesn’t, but she comes to all my bouts and this win taught me a lot.
“I don’t know what the ranking people are doing (and) taking into account, so I don’t know if I’ll be ranked,” Erceg said.
With UFC 293 in September, he hopes for a ranking now that he is in the UFC holy of holies.
“I hope I am, but I’m just excited that he was considered the number 10 best man in the world and so for me to find out what I can do against someone 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 compete against whoever.”
The stunning points decision win took Erceg’s now impressive record to 10-1, all of his other wins coming in the lower seeded MMA division.
from the opening moments, Dvorak was determined to take down his unknown rival with multiple calf kicks, but the Aussie’s durability kept him going and running through the attack.
Both exchanged positive hard blows in the first round, using their strengths and game plan and it ended fairly evenly.
The Australian hit his rival with head shots and kicks throughout the fight that lasted the entire game
Dvorak knew at the start of the second round that he was up against an enraged tiger that didn’t back down.
The second round started with both fighters eager to continue – Erceg was the aggressor with Dvorak looking to counterattack.
The short term fight didn’t seem to give Erceg any cardio issues as he continued consistently.
By now Dvorak had changed his game plan and tried to win the fight on points. Astroboy wanted to force him into submission with a belt.
Erceg landed with a huge right hand that momentarily dropped Dvorak. The Czech fighter got back to his feet, but was then caught with a big kick to the right head that sent him falling again.
As Dvorak fell to the ground, Erceg dove on him, hoping to pack a guillotine, but was unable to sink it all the way. The round ended as the two got back to their feet and landed heavy blows in the center of the Octagon.
How life as a fighter for the Aussie all began is a story worth telling as he was not a tough guy or a boxer, but a scholar. But he was small and weedy and just wanted to get stronger.
“I always had this little man syndrome and when I was young I was a big wrestling fan.
“There was this guy in the WWE named Brock Lesner, and he came to the UFC and there was this whole promo thing about how huge he was and how massive his hands were.
“He’s a beast, he’s a monster and we need to make new gloves just for him to wear, blah, blah, blah they said, and he took on a man named Frank Mir, who as a normal human being has a big dude was at 191 cm and 119 kg but was a small boy compared to Brock.
“Mir was absolutely torn by Brock in the beginning of the fight, but then out of the blue he put a foot down or something, and ended the fight and I said to myself, I’m a little boy, whatever that was, I have 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 to hurt his top 10 ranked rival Dvorak.
This was when his mother was against him fighting.
“She was absolutely against it and she didn’t want me to fight and still cries a lot about my fights.”
After the fight in Vancouver, overnight, Astroboy is said to have had tears of joy in her eyes.
Dvorak was determined to knock down his unknown rival with multiple calf kicks, but the Aussie’s durability just kept him moving forward and running through the charge.
Both exchanged positive hard blows in the first round, using their strengths and game plan and it ended fairly evenly.
Dvorak then knew he had to face an enraged tiger that didn’t flinch.
The second round started with both fighters eager to continue – Erceg was the aggressor with Dvorak looking to counterattack.
The short term fight didn’t seem to give Erceg any cardio issues as he continued consistently.
By now Dvorak had changed his game plan and tried to win the fight on points. ‘Astroboy’ wanted to force him into submission.
Erceg landed with a huge right hand that momentarily dropped Dvorak. The Czech fighter got back to his feet, but was then caught with a big kick to the right head that sent him falling again.
As Dvorak fell to the ground, Erceg attempted to pack a guillotine, but was unable to sink it all the way. The round ended with the two getting back to their feet and performing trade strikes in the center of the Octagon.
At the end, the unknown Aussie’s hand was raised as a unanimous points winner (29-28, 29-28, 30-27), now earning him a new career path in the UFC.