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Stephen Foote • May 9th, 2025 12:30 pm
Photo: UFC
Even in the infancy of his UFC tenure, Kiwi light heavyweight Navajo Stirling is taking nothing for granted.
The Lower Hutt product is currently in Montreal, where his preparations are coming to a head for his second official fight on the planet's biggest MMA stage against Ivan Erslan at UFC 315 on Sunday (NZ time).
A veteran of the New Zealand fight scene, the two-time King in the Ring champion has only recently been afforded the luxury of quitting his full time job to dedicate himself wholeheartedly to his passion for combat - and the results speak for themselves.
Stirling's stellar showing at Dana White's Contender series was backed up by a head-turning clinic against Tuco Tokkos in Tampa in December, and now he'll have a chance to put the pedal to the metal of that momentum when he leads off the preliminary card on his first pay-per-view event.
It's a far cry from the unforgiving grind of the regional circuit, although it's that experience he believes gives him the kind of edge that will differentiate himself from his contemporaries.
"I worked a full-time job leading right up until my contender series fight and even then I was loving it," Stirling told Sport Nation's Fight Club podcast.
Navajo Stirling on his healthy competition with fellow UFC light heavyweight Carlos Ulberg | Fight Club podcast
"So now that I'm fully immersed in it, I'm just really grateful. I've learned so much through all of my hardships as well and then everything came to me at the right time.
"Now that I am here, I feel like I've just got a chip on my shoulder and something above all of my competitors. I really have that gratitude.
"I see some of these other fighters, they get comfortable. They turn into divas. They sip their own Kool-Aid a bit.
"Those are the fake fighters and they get found out real quick. I feel like you have to really come from something to perform at this level."
Stirling has been in the lab at City Kickboxing where he's the latest in a storied line of former kickboxers who have been successfully processed through the Auckland fighter factory to become the kind of well-rounded combatants required in the UFC.
While the striking aspect is typically already well honed for those making that transition - refer to predecessors in former world champion Israel Adesanya and world light heavyweight contender Carlos Ulberg, both former King in the Ring champs - it's the grappling component that presents the steepest learning curve.
Navajo Stirling after winning his Dana White's Contender Series bout | Photo: Supplied
But as head trainer Eugene Bareman attests, Stirling is blessed with an innate ability to learn a new technique and immediately adapt it to his game, which has served him very well in making that wrestling upgrade.
In fact, Stirling believes it's now become one of his strengths.
"I've really established the grappling part of my game, offence and defence," he explains. "It's just seeing the opportunity to try it out.
"If the guy ends up changing it up and trying to take me down, I'll be prepared for that moment. I've been doing that stuff nonstop.
"The only thing that I haven't shown yet is my offensive wrestling. But I had a lot of finishes in some of my earlier fights from taking guys down.
"I have that part of my game plan, and even if I feel he's weakening some of the grappling exchanges, I'll look to turn the tide and get on top. I go into the fight knowing that I have all the tools available to me."
All of the above bodes ominously for Erslan.
Boasting a pro record of 14-4, this will be only the Croatian's second UFC bout - coming off defeat to Ion Cutelaba in September, he has a clear advantage over Stirling in experience in the MMA arena, with a lengthy background fighting in promotions across Europe since 2015.
But for all of his durability and toughness, the 33-year-old is unlikely to have seen a package of athleticism and striking that Stirling brings to the table.
"Most of the guys I've fought, they always game plan for me.
Navajo Stirling's plea to bring UFC back to NZ | Fight Club podcast
"I'm a fighter that these guys have never seen before. They've never seen a light heavyweight move like me, put the shots out there like me with the versatility, the athleticism. I've got all bases covered.
"So they start changing it up, they start trying to do something extra, and I just stick to my own game plan, for that reason."
With Ulberg as a weekly sparring partner, Stirling only has to look across the mats for proof that he can one day share his teammates' standing among the division's elite.
And with the clear understanding of the importance of being able to play the prizefighting game and self-promote, a skill almost as valuable as the in-Octagon performance itself, the 27-year-old is confident his future is just as bright.
"The UFC knows I'm going to be the next superstar. I'm going to be the biggest thing to come out of this side of the continent.
"For me it's just focusing on getting better and getting the fights and that's all I really need to do and all the work that I've done.
"Most fighters want to slide under the radar and fight and hope everyone gets behind them and they get paid more, but it doesn't work like that.
"You need to sell yourself. You need to put yourself out there, you need to call your shot. No one's going to sit back in and hand it to you, that's where I'm going to come through and walk over the rest of the competition.
"They're going to be calling me out soon…that's when you know you're doing the right thing."
Listen to the full interview on the latest episode of the Fight Club podcast:
