Steve Erceg reveals mid-fight banter with Tim Elliott

Steve Erceg had fun while he took on veteran Tim Elliott.

Erceg battled on Elliott in front of his home crowd at UFC Perth on Saturday, where he picked up a hard-fought decision. Mid-match, Elliott could be heard shouting after landing a takedown. Erceg recently revealed his mid-fight exchange with Elliott. Elliott was grinding his chin on Erceg’s eye after taking him down. As Erceg tried to get separation, Elliott accused the Australian of poking him in the eye. When Erceg accused Elliott of the same, the 39-year-old playfully proffered to him that grinding with his chin is not a foul—under the Unified Rules, an illegal eye gouge can occur from the fingers, elbow or chin. Erceg remarked in his post-fight interview:

“He took me down in the first round. He's putting his chin in my eye,” Erceg rehashed. “I’m trying to get his chin off my eye cause it f---ing hurt. And he goes, ‘He’s poking me in the eye.’ I’m like, ‘You’re f---ing poking me in the eye.’ He goes, ‘Chin’s legal, motherf---er.’ I’m like, ‘Here we go, we’re in a fight, that’s what we’re here for.’ It was just fun all around.”

After surviving adversity on the ground in the first round, Erceg went on to box up his opponent to get the nod on all three scorecards. While Erceg trusts his gas tank, he knew Elliott could not keep up with him. Erceg notes that while he picked his intensity as the bout progressed, Elliott moved around with frantic energy, which may be difficult to maintain for 15 minutes. The Aussie noted:

“The performance is what made it better… He moves so much. Doesn’t matter how fit he is. I’m so fit. And even if he was slightly fitter than me, like if we went for a run. He is moving twice or three times the amount I’m moving. I’m pacing, I’m waiting for my spots. He can’t keep that up forever. After a couple of those scrambles, he got up, I saw him panting, I was like, ‘Here we go, the ball starts rolling, I’m coming,’” Erceg explained.

Crashing into the UFC in 2023 to pick up three wins and a title shot the next year, Erceg (14-4) subsequently fell on a three-fight slump. “Astro Boy” has since rebounded with back-to-back decision wins over Ode Osbourne and Elliott. Meanwhile, Elliott (21-14) was coming off finishes over Su Mudaerji and Kai Asakura going into his clash against Erceg.