Steve
Erceg had fun while he took on veteran Tim
Elliott.

Erceg battled on Elliott in front of his home crowd at
UFC Perth on Saturday, where he picked up a hard-fought
decision. Mid-match, Elliott could be heard shouting after landing
a takedown. Erceg recently revealed his mid-fight exchange with
Elliott. Elliott was grinding his chin on Erceg’s eye after taking
him down. As Erceg tried to get separation, Elliott accused the
Australian of poking him in the eye. When Erceg accused Elliott of
the same, the 39-year-old playfully proffered to him that grinding
with his chin is not a foul—under the Unified Rules, an illegal eye
gouge can occur from the fingers, elbow or chin. Erceg remarked in
his post-fight interview:

“He took me down in the first round. He’s putting his chin in my
eye,” Erceg rehashed. “I’m trying to get his chin off my eye cause
it f—ing hurt. And he goes, ‘He’s poking me in the eye.’ I’m
like, ‘You’re f—ing poking me in the eye.’ He goes, ‘Chin’s
legal, motherf—er.’ I’m like, ‘Here we go, we’re in a fight,
that’s what we’re here for.’ It was just fun all around.”

After surviving adversity on the ground in the first round, Erceg
went on to box up his opponent to get the nod on all three
scorecards. While Erceg trusts his gas tank, he knew Elliott could
not keep up with him. Erceg notes that while he picked his
intensity as the bout progressed, Elliott moved around with frantic
energy, which may be difficult to maintain for 15 minutes. The
Aussie noted:

“The performance is what made it better… He moves so much. Doesn’t
matter how fit he is. I’m so fit. And even if he was slightly
fitter than me, like if we went for a run. He is moving twice or
three times the amount I’m moving. I’m pacing, I’m waiting for my
spots. He can’t keep that up forever. After a couple of those
scrambles, he got up, I saw him panting, I was like, ‘Here we go,
the ball starts rolling, I’m coming,’” Erceg explained.

Crashing into the UFC in 2023 to pick up three wins and a title
shot the next year, Erceg (14-4) subsequently fell on a three-fight
slump. “Astro Boy” has since rebounded with back-to-back decision
wins over Ode
Osbourne and Elliott. Meanwhile, Elliott (21-14) was coming off
finishes over Su Mudaerji
and Kai
Asakura going into his clash against Erceg.

“The performance is what made
(the win) better.”

Steve Erceg is particularly proud of the way he was able to outwork
Tim Elliott en route to a victory on home soil.
#UFCPerth

Complete Main Card Results ➡️ https://t.co/toXKeYREALpic.twitter.com/jdHssQm7Ps— UFC News
(@UFCNews)
May 2, 2026