Rising UFC star Steve Erceg says he's "preparing to go to war" when he fights for the flyweight crown in May, and even he's surprised at how quickly his shot at the title has come.
Erceg will start as rank underdog when he takes on champion Alexandre Pantoja in Rio de Janeiro on May 5.
It marks an amazing rise up the ranks for the 27-year-old West Australian, who only made his UFC debut nine months ago.
Three impressive victories later, and world No.10 Erceg now has the chance to become WA's first UFC champion.
Erceg is determined to take the opportunity with both hands, knowing how fortunate he is to have a crack at the belt this early in his UFC career.
"I didn't expect it to be that fast," Erceg told AAP.
"You expect to fight two or three fighters in the lower ranks of the UFC, then you might get a top-15 opportunity, and you work your way from there.
"You've seen others who have had 10-fight winning streaks and they haven't got their shot yet.
"I get it after my third fight in the UFC, so it's kind of wild.
"That's why I started - because I wanted to be the toughest guy in the room. Now we get to find out who the toughest guy in the world is.
"I'm preparing to go to war."
Erceg will have plenty of close-knit support in Brazil, with his sister, mum, partner and partner's family expected to make the trip, as well as people from his gym.
But don't expect Erceg or his family to stay in Brazil for long.
"I'm excited to hear the boos," Erceg said.
"I'm not too worried (about my safety). If I was going to stay there for a prolonged period of time afterwards, I might be worried for my family.
"But we're going to leave pretty quickly, so we should be right."
Erceg has become the UFC's man of many faces.
Pantoja was quick to point out that Erceg bears a strong resemblance to American actor Steve Carrell.
Erceg has also been compared to McLovin from the movie Superbad, tennis champion Novak Djokovic, and NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"My favourite one I guess is Steve Carell. There's so many memes associated with that one," Erceg said with a laugh.
"I have to go back and watch The Office and get some lines I can throw out every now and then.
"I enjoy the light side of life in general. Training is really hard, so I'm constantly taking the piss, and people are taking the piss out of me at training."
