Perth's Steve Erceg has been handed an opportunity of a lifetime with the world No.10 to fight Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight crown in May.
Erceg only made his UFC debut in June last year and is now just one victory away from being the flyweight world champion after winning all three of his UFC bouts.
But it will be no easy task against world No.1 flyweight Pantoja, who has won his past five fights and has an overall MMA record of 27-5 in the flyweight division.
The fight will be held on May 5 in Pantoja's home city of Rio de Janeiro.
Since entering the world of UFC, 28-year-old Erceg has defeated David Dvorak, Alessandro Costa and Matt Schnell.
But it took him a while for his UFC career to get going due to some frustrating early visa troubles.
Erceg's first two scheduled fights had to be canned due to visa issues.
"I actually never found out what happened," Erceg said last year of those visa issues, which stemmed back to 2022.
"They told me I'd get a letter eventually to tell me why they denied it, but that never came.
"Then the second time it was just a timing issue. I got offered the fight with four weeks notice and the immigration, US embassy, couldn't process it in time.
"So they had to delay the fight until it was processed."
Erceg finally enjoyed a slice of luck when he was offered a bout at short notice against Dvorak last year, his victory there setting him on a path towards glory.
