Undefeated UFC light heavyweight talent Navajo Stirling had a triumphant promotional debut but failed to impress fans after failing to secure an expected finish.
Navajo Stirling, one of City Kickboxing's rising stars, earned a shot in the UFC via Dana White's Contender Series earlier this year. He earned a wild knockout against Phillip Latu in September to land a contract and was hyped as potentially the 'next big thing' at 205 pounds.
Stirling entered the Octagon against Tuco Tokkos, a major betting favorite. But despite beating Tokkos by a significant margin, especially with body shots, he was unable to finish an exhausted Tokkos as the fight dragged on.
Ahead of his promotional debut, Israel Adesanya called Stirling a potentially better version of himself. It was a big statement from the former middleweight champion and immediately drew hordes of MMA fans to Stirling.
A Stirling knockout win was a high-stakes option in many sportsbooks before UFC Tampa, especially after his DWCS performance. But he ended up with a unanimous decision win and despite the victory, he left fans unfulfilled with his performance.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Undefeated Navajo Stirling's up-and-down UFC debut is drawing hatred from fans
UFC fans on
“Navajo Stirling was -200 to win by knockout and hasn't even come close. I'm not impressed,” said one fan.
“Navajo Stirling is a complete trash fighter, someone needs to step in the ring and legit **** him.”
“Navajo Stirling looks like the player from my professional club.”
“RIP to everyone who used a Navajo Stirling KO. Dude isn't that good.”
“Stirling fought a stumble and couldn't get to the finish…not impressed with this guy.”
“What a snoozefest!”
“Putting that on the map in 2024 is a shame.”
“Cut both.”
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Stirling moves to 6-0 in his professional career with the victory at UFC Tampa. He is a name to watch in the light heavyweight division as 2025 approaches, although he will need to do more in his next outing to earn more love from the fans.
Israel Adesanya will return against a rising middleweight at UFC Riyadh
Adesanya, one of Stirling's main training partners, returns to the Octagon at UFC Riyadh against Nassourdine Imavov in February. It is the first non-title UFC fight for the former middleweight champion since a UFC 234 victory over Anderson Silva.
Adesanya lost to UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305 earlier this year. For the first time in his MMA career, Adesanya has lost back-to-back fights after losing the title to Sean Strickland at UFC 293.
After the win at UFC Tampa, it is uncertain when Stirling will return to the Octagon against another rising light heavyweight. Before the win over Tokkos, Stirling won four straight fights by TKO/KO, going the distance once before in his MMA run.
Stirling's performance at UFC Tampa shows that the promising light heavyweight still has to develop to live up to the immense hype. With Adesanya in his inner circle, expect Stirling to improve quickly inside the Octagon.
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