A Stone Cold Fan, A Brock Lesnar Moment: How Steve Erceg Found His Way To The UFC

Published 25 July 2026 · india

A Stone Cold Fan, A Brock Lesnar Moment: How Steve Erceg Found His Way To The UFC Written By, Last Updated: July 25, 2026, 12:46

A Stone Cold Fan, A Brock Lesnar Moment: How Steve Erceg Found His Way To The UFC Written By, Last Updated: July 25, 2026, 12:46 IST UFC flyweight contender Steve Erceg's rapid rise has been built on effort, discipline, and staying true to himself. Rapid Read Steve Erceg aka Astro Boy. (AFP Photo) For Steve Erceg, the biggest moments of his career have arrived quickly. The Australian flyweight went from fighting outside the UFC spotlight to challenging for a world title in a matter of months. And the secret to his rapid rise is simple: Erceg has always chased improvement. Erceg, who grew up in Perth (Australia), wanted to be the toughest person in the room. And it’s not because of the circumstances. He just admired toughness. “I wasn’t in a place where I needed to be tough, but looking at the people around me, you could see the male role models. They all seemed tough to me. So I wanted to be like that, emulate that," Erceg tells News18 Sports. That mindset eventually led him to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), but the foundation was built much earlier through his family and his relationship with the sport itself. Erceg grew up in an environment which he describes as ‘quiet and laid-back’. Sport, though, was a central part of Erceg’s childhood, and his competitive instincts developed long before he entered a fight cage. “Growing up in Perth, it was laid-back, quiet. It was not a very busy life or anything like that. I had good schooling. I was really attached to sport (in general). I loved playing all kinds of sports," he recalls. “I was very close to my family, and still am. They shaped me greatly, mostly through sport. I think I’ve learned lessons. I’d hear other people on my teams talk about, ‘I didn’t like this training session because it was too hard. It’s supposed to be more fun.’ I’d say the same thing to my family and they’d go, ‘Well, it’s supposed to be hard. You’re trying to get better. Don’t you want to be the best you can be?’ Little things like that shaped me," he added. Among the sports that Erceg played was Australian Rules football. And there’s one memory that remains particularly significant. As a young player, Erceg would sometimes celebrate almost achieving something. A difficult kick that nearly went through the goalposts also felt like an accomplishment. His father, though, saw it differently. “One thing that always used to frustrate me is that I’d be kicking towards goal from all these different angles and I’d try to put it through the middle. I’d almost kick these goals from really weird angles that are really difficult. I’d say, ‘Hey Dad, you see that? I almost hit that goal.’ And he’d always say, ‘You know what that means, don’t you?’ I’d say, ‘What does it mean?’ He’d go, ‘It means you didn’t kick the goal,'" he said. “And that always annoyed me as a young kid because I didn’t understand what he was trying to tell me. But as an adult, I realised that either you do something or nothing. There is no telling people I could have been something when I haven’t put the effort in.