Steve Erceg is looking forward to a striking battle with Kai Kara-France.
Erceg (12-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) takes on Kara-France (24-11 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in the UFC 305 co-main event Aug. 17 at RAC Arena in Perth (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
Erceg is coming off a competitive title loss to flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 301 in May. The Perth native acknowledges Kara-France’s power, but thinks he has more tools in the standup department.
“I think he is very dangerous, but I think I’m slightly more dynamic,” Erceg told Submission Radio. “I stay away from certain weapons of his, and I think I’d have more ways to win on the feet.”
Kara-France, who has 11 knockouts on his resume – including a finish of former champion Cody Garbrandt, got his wish in fighting Erceg. Kara-France said he sees Erceg as a great dance partner, and the former title challenger agrees.
“We’re going to try to be killing each other from the first bell, and I’m going to try and knock him out,” Erceg said.
Although his fight with Pantoja was close, Erceg knows he has a bit of work to do before he can get another title opportunity.
“I think I get put in the top five in the rankings,” Erceg said of a potential win. “I don’t think that’ll get me a (title) fight straight away. He (Pantoja) fought a lot of rematches and there’s a lot of exciting fights for him at the moment in the division, so I imagine it’ll be a few fights away still. But it puts me in good stead at least for my next couple of fights.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.
