New Zealand’s Navajo Stirling has already created a highlight-reel moment to open the door to the UFC. Now he plans on adding to it as he looks to make an instant impact on the light heavyweight division.
Undefeated at 5-0 as a pro, City Kickboxing product Stirling makes his Octagon debut on Saturday at UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Buckley in Tampa, Florida, where he’ll face Florida-based Brit Tuco Tokkos in a 205-pound bout.
It’s a chance for 27-year-old Stirling to claim a big win on the big stage, and tee up a big year for the Kiwi fighter in 2025.
Enter Dana White's 16 Days Of Giveaways
Stirling earned his spot on the UFC roster with a one-shot knockout of Phillip Latu on Dana White’s Contender Series in September. It was a performance that laid the groundwork for his appearance this weekend, and he admitted that the performance, and the emotion, of that victory will take some beating as he embarks on his UFC career.
It's life changing,” he told UFC.com during his first fight week sit-down interview.
“That'll probably be the biggest fight of my life for a long time, because if that fight had never went through, then I wouldn't be sitting here today. So yeah, that was definitely the most pressure I've ever felt, probably more than now, but now it's just time to shine.
“(Making it to the UFC) is a bit of relief, and now it's like I can actually commence my dream of being one of the best fighters ever. And the only place to do it is here at the UFC, where they’ve got the best fighters on the planet. And, yeah, I want to make my way to the top.”
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From listening to Stirling talk, you get the distinct impression that he’s cut from a different cloth than many of the prospects who walk through the Octagon door for the first time. That impression was backed up further when he revealed that his pre-debut preparations extended beyond the usual fight camp drilling you’d expect.
“We've kind of put it in the back of my head that I was going to be a superstar,” he said.
“I’ve done all the pre-build up, trying to recreate this sort of media stuff for myself. And talking the talk, walking the walk. So this is all normal for me, being followed by cameras. Everything is normal for me.”
That media prep is something that clearly left him fully prepared for his chat with us at UFC.com, and it almost felt at times like he was cutting a promo. The big difference here is that he doesn’t plan to go out and have a pro wrestling match. His dance partner will be actively moving against him, rather than with him. But that hasn’t stopped Stirling from dropping some eye-catching quotes on us this week.
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I’ve got it all, bro!” he said.
“I got the look, I got the fighting style, I got the mindset for it, and a great story to come with it – where I come from and stuff.
“I came from nothing, so to bring myself here, and I knew I was going to be a superstar, and I'm going to be in the making. I just know it in my head, and I can fight to back it up. When people go to watch me fight, they realize like, ‘Oh, this guy's actually really, really good. He’s not just all talk.’”
Stirling may be a newcomer to the world stage with the UFC, but he arrives as part of one of the most respected, successful fight teams of recent years. Auckland’s City Kickboxing, led by head coach Eugene Bareman, has helped launch and build the UFC careers of the likes of Dan Hooker, Kai Kara-France and Carlos Ulberg. And they’ve reached the middleweight summit with Israel Adesanya, who arrived in the UFC as a decorated kickboxer and is now one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
Having people like that in the gym can only benefit a young, up-and-coming fighter, and Stirling said he’s been grateful for their involvement in his career so far.
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"They've given me plenty of insight into the championship level of fighting,” he explained.
“Obviously, with my big bro teammate Israel being a middleweight champion for quite a few years, I was able to look over his shoulder and watch him out the back, doing what I'm doing right now, taking photos with the belt, the whole championship treatment.
“It’s nothing new to me, I’ve seen all that before, and it’s just like, yeah, it gave me the vision to want that for myself. It made me realize I’m in the right sport, I’m doing the right thing. I’ve just got to take it one step at a time.”
Stirling has been the beneficiary of being a part of one of the MMA world’s elite fight teams, and he knows how much that has helped him already. But, despite having world-class coaching and world championship-caliber teammates on tap every time he steps onto the mats at City Kickboxing, he refuses to take any of those relative luxuries for granted.
“I think my whole career leading up to joining City Kickboxing was me versus the world,” he explained.
“I’d done everything myself. I’d never really had head coaches and all this professional help from so many people to have all of that drip fed to me, like, kind of perfect at the right time.
“It made me a lot more grateful for just the small things and the build-up. I think that I see a lot of fighters now, they’re like divas, bro. They’re not used to it. Are they used to that treatment a little too early? And they’re not as grateful.
"That’s where I feel like I have the edge over a lot of fighters. I really want this. I know the deep, dark, depths of this sport, and I’ve welcomed that and I’ve taken that and made myself into something far beyond a lot of other fighters.”
Stirling makes his UFC debut in Tampa this weekend against Tokkos, who he expects to push the pace on him from the opening second of the fight – and that suits him just fine.
“I'm assuming he's going to try and put me in as many bad positions as possible,” he said.
Enter Dana White's 16 Days Of Giveaways
“He knows I'm a striker, but, yeah, I've been working on my whole MMA game for a long time, so I wouldn't be surprised to get him on the ground and do some work.
“I know he's going to start hard and fast. I've been rushed my whole career, so it's nothing new to me. Anything he brings out, I'm not afraid of. I'm ready to go wherever the fight takes it.”
Stirling talks like a fighter who has visualized all of this already. But don’t mistake his confidence for recklessness. Indeed, it’s his ability to stay cool in white-hot situations in the cage that has helped him claim four consecutive knockouts as he arrives in the UFC with a perfect 5-0 record.
City Kickboxing has built champions and set a global standard for MMA brilliance.
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But if he does need to flip the switch and pull something crazy out of the bag to secure the win, he’s more than ready to do so.
“I’m just a very disciplined fighter,” he said.
“I stay disciplined in the cage, in terms of keeping my range, having a steady lead.
“But if it comes to a point where I am down on the cards, I have what it takes to create a little bit of chaos to start something. I can create chaos at my own will, and make a situation happen from nothing, as well.”
As a new arrival in a light heavyweight division that is as heavy on veterans as it is on strikers, Stirling clearly sees an opportunity to enter the fray and ruffle some feathers.
“I think we're looking for some young talent (at light heavyweight) you know? We’ve got a lot of foreign guys, not a lot of English speakers, and I feel like no one's really taking the bull by its horns. So I'm here to do that,” he stated.
“I’m here to shake up the division. I'm here to be that guy. And I know a lot of people aren't going to like that, and they're going to try and steal what I’ve got, and I'm willing to defend that and fight whoever.
"Fighting the big names, that’s why I came here, to call out these guys. There’s a lot of good fighters, but I definitely want to earn my way, as well.”
His first step to earning his way towards the big names comes this weekend at Amalie Arena in Tampa, where Stirling plans on delivering a statement victory to get his UFC career off to a flying start.
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“I definitely plan on getting the big, big finish, a big knockout finish, after breaking him down for one to two rounds,” he said.
“It all depends how tough he is. I'm hoping he's tough enough so I can give myself a bit of a highlight reel, sauce him up on TV and show everyone how good I am on the feet, or in any other position we go. Yeah, I just can’t wait.”
UFC Fight Night: Covington vs Buckley took place live from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida on December 14, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
