Michael Bisping doesn’t suppose Steve Erceg is prepared for Alexandre Pantoja.
Pantoja (27-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) defends his flyweight title towards Erceg (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 301 (Pay-per-view/ESPN/ESPN+) fundamental occasion at Farmasi Enviornment in Rio de Janeiro.
Bisping marveled at Pantoja’s resume, which incorporates two wins over Brandon Moreno, two wins over Brandon Royval, in addition to top-ranked contenders Alex Perez and Manel Kape.
“Alexandre Pantoja, this man’s phenomenal,” Bisping mentioned on his YouTube channel. “He’s just about gone via the complete flyweight division: Brandon Moreno, the Royvals, the Kapes. You identify it, he’s been there and accomplished it.
“The person’s phenomenal. He’s obtained no weak areas. He’s obtained a powerful thoughts. He’s resilient. He’s obtained a tremendous fuel tank. He can strike, he can wrestle, he’s obtained world-class jiu-jitsu and he’s a nasty bastard on prime of it.”
Pantoja opened up as a large favourite, however the line has gotten nearer on battle week. The champion is presently a -200 favourite in keeping with FanDuel, whereas Erceg is a +154 underdog.
Bisping sees Pantoja as an enormous favourite, and would view an Erceg win as a large upset.
“Will he get it accomplished? (I) love Steve Erceg – good man. However this isn’t the one,” Bisping mentioned. “It’s simply not the one. Not proper now, and I say that with respect to Steve. I want you all the very best, brother. I hope you’ll be able to show me mistaken, and I actually do imply that.
“Alexandre Pantoja is just too expert, too skilled. However you by no means know. One shot is all it takes in these 4-ounce gloves. However in fact, in the primary occasion, I’ve obtained the one and solely Alexandre Pantoja.”
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 301.
Be sure you go to the MMA Junkie Instagram web page and YouTube channel to debate this and extra content material with followers of combined martial arts.