Alex Perez Unsurprisingly Steve Erceg Got UFC Title Shot Despite Muhammad Mokaev’s ‘Tougher Resume’

LAS VEGAS – Many were intrigued to see Steve Erceg get a title shot against UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja – but not Alex Pérez.

Although he may not agree with this, Perez (24-8 MMA, 6-4 UFC) understands very well why Erceg ended up fighting for the title Muhammad Mokayevwho many, including Perez, felt was more deserving of the opportunity.

“If you look at the resumes, Mokaev has a tougher resume, I believe,” Perez said at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 55 media day. “He’s been fighting in the UFC the longest, but he also fought Tim Elliot, who fought Demetrious (Johnson), and I fought (Alexandre) Pantoja and Deiveson (Figueiredo), and he beat me.

“But in this sport you are only as good as your last performance. It doesn’t matter what you did. As I said, Steve went there and did a good job and fought a ranked guy and beat him, then Alessandro (Costa), then he came in and submitted Matt Schnell. This is very impressive.”

Mokaev has twice as many UFC wins as Erceg. Unlike Erceg, he is undefeated in his MMA career and has beaten two former UFC title challengers – Perez and Tim Elliott. Still, the man fighting Pantoja in the main event of UFC 301 in Brazil on May 4 is Erceg, not Mokaev.

Perez, who returns this Saturday against Matheus Nicolau (19-4-1 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in the main fight of UFC on ESPN 55 (ESPN, ESPN+), believes it’s more than just having a better resume, it’s also about putting on dominant fights and submitting – something Perez thinks Mokaev didn’t do.

“Mokaev went there and I was coming off the couch after a year off, and it was a tough fight,” Perez said. “I thought I won the fight. Obviously the judges didn’t see it that way, and I can’t disagree with them, but it wasn’t his best performance. It’s also a business. I understand this guy is going in there and putting people to sleep, so why not give him a chance? It’s a business, but it’s also a fight, and you’re only as good as your last performance.”

As for the fight between Pantoja and Erceg, Perez believes the champion will keep the belt even though he thinks Erceg is a formidable challenge.

“I give it to Pantoja because of the experience, but Steve is tough because he has strong boxing and Pantoja has shown that he can get hurt,” said Perez. “Steve, I saw him fight week, and he’s a huge failure, and I think I’m big for the division. He is tall and has very good boxing. Today it’s difficult if he’s good on the ground because nobody took him there. I’ve never done studies on him, so I don’t know if he was knocked down, but he looks like a stud. But Pantoja with experience and a great camp at American Top Team, I’ll go with that.”

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This story originally appeared on MMA Junkie