Alexandre Pantoja Retains Title In Brazil Return, Beats Steve Ercog In Thin Decision Win

Undisputed flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja made good on his first outing on home soil since his move to the Octagon — successfully retaining his divisional title with a unanimous decision (48-47, 48-46, 49-46) over challenger, Steve Erceg in their UFC 301 main event clash.

Pantoja, the current undisputed flyweight titleholder, headlined tonight’s return to Rio de Janeiro at UFC 301, having successfully defended his crown at UFC 296 back in December in a rematch judging victory against Brandon Royval.

As for Erceg, the Australian — who was three-fights deep into a winning run and his Octagon stint to boot, earned his title fight with Pantoja tonight off the back of a stunning KO win over Matt Schnell just a month ago.

And beginning in typical aggressive fashion, Pantoja managed to scramble with success throughout his five round back-and-forth against Perth native, Erceg.

However, dealing with a massive cut across his forehead, Pantoja took his foot off the gas considerably in the fourth round — and managed to swing the bout in his favor in the fifth and final frame to successfully retain his throne atop the 125lbs division.

Below, catch the highlights from Alexandre Pantoja’s title defense against Steve Erceg