Steve Erceg will look to turn things around in early 2025 – but not Down Under.

Although the promotion is set to return to his native Australia in February, Erceg (12-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) will compete at UFC Fight Night 253 vs. rising Kazakh contender Asu Almabayev (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC). The event takes place March 1 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The promotion officially announced the bout Friday on social media.

Erceg (12-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) burst into the international spotlight with consecutive wins over David Dvorak, Alessandro Costa, and Matt Schnell that aligned him for a surprising title fight vs. Alexandre Pantoja.

Pantoja defeated Erceg by unanimous decision, but the challenger was praised for his competitiveness. In August, Erceg returned and was finished in Round 1 with strikes by Kai Kara-France.

A potential dark horse at 125 pounds, Almabayev (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) has largely dominated every opponent put in front of his thus far in the UFC. After a debut win over Ode Osbourne by submission, Almabayev won decisions unanimously against C.J. Vergara, Jose Johnson, and Matheus Nicolau.

With the addition, the UFC Fight Night 253 lineup includes:

• Brandon Royval vs. Manel Kape

• Nasrat Haqparast vs. Esteban Ribovics

• Asu Almabayev vs. Steve Erceg

• Luana Carolina vs. Montana De La Rosa

• Lucas Almeida vs. Danny Silva

• Hyder Amil vs. William Gomis

• Danny Barlow vs. Sam Patterson

• Cody Brundage vs. Julian Marquez

• JJ Aldrich vs. Andrea Lee

• Charles Johnson vs. Ramazan Temirov

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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Former UFC title challenger Steve Erceg books bout vs. rising contender Asu Almabayev