Alexandre Pantoja had his second defense of his flyweight title, at UFC 302, against Steve Erceg. After he won the title from Brandon Moreno, at UFC 290, 'The Cannibal' defended the title against Brandon Royval at UFC 296, in the co-main event. Pantoja is now 2-0 against both Moreno and Royval. The Brazilian already has several victories in the top. Therefore, the 10th-ranked Erceg got the opportunity to fight for the title. Erceg also had an impressive showing in his previous fight against Matt Schnell which he won via one-punch knockout, at UFC Vegas 87.
Was Steve Erceg robbed at UFC 296?
Fabio Alves, Sal D’Amato, and David Tirelli judged the UFC 296 main event fight. All three judges had rounds 1,3, and 5 for Pantoja. Tirelli had round 4 for Pantoja too, a questionable scorecard. Even though the MMA fight ended in a unanimous decision, it was extremely close. Round 1 was Pantoja’s and round 4 was Erceg’s. Rounds 2,3, and 5 were close but Erceg landed the damaging shots but Pantoja had longer control time. To make matters worse, Erceg’s corner even though they were down 3-0 going into the 4th round and Pantoja’s corner also thought the same.
As per the latest MMA rules, damage trumps all in the scoring criteria. Moreover, takedowns do not count if no damage or offensive grappling accompanies them. Pantoja never had Erceg under any submission threat and did not land too many ground-and-pound shots. As such, Erceg should’ve won the fight 49-46, at least 48-47 was acceptable. One of the reasons might be due to the durable chin of Alexandre Pantoja. The Brazilian never reacted even after getting hit clean by the Australian, a reason why the judges might’ve scored it for Pantoja. After all, he ended multiple rounds on top of Erceg even though Erceg did more damage in the rounds.
If looked objectively, Erceg was indeed robbed. However, MMA rules are too subjective. Therefore, a case can be made that Pantoja was the victor. Due to the control time, he had, Pantoja might’ve edged out rounds 3 and 5. Erceg could’ve won round 5 if he had chosen not to grapple with Pantoja. The reversal the Brazilian obtained swayed the scorecards in his favor. Inexperience might’ve been the reason for it. A striking matchup would’ve favored Erceg but his decision to wrestle with Pantoja proved costly as the fight ended with Pantoja on top of him.
