The UFC Belgrade co-main event had a very different look than originally planned when it arrived on Saturday, with light heavyweight Jan Blachowicz facing Navajo Stirling in place of Bogdan Guskov.
Guskov had shifted to the main event of last week’s UFC Abu Dhabi, losing to Magomed Ankalaev. That opened the door for Stirling, an undefeated City Kickboxing star, to take on an ex-champ in the biggest fight of his career to date.
The opening frame saw Blachowicz fight well, bloodying the nose of Navajo Stirling early. Stirling was rocked, but recovered. Then, midway through the round, Stirling was able to connect on a picture perfect straight right hand that sat down the former champion. Pouncing on the injured veteran, Stirling unleashed a flurry of elbows and punches that forced the fight to be stopped. An unbelievable performance in the biggest moment of his career, Sterling moved to 11-0 with the victory.
Improving his UFC win streak to six, Stirling shared that it was “an honor” to fight Blachowicz and that he was a big fan of his opponent. Stirling mentioned Khalil Rountree in the post fight interview, and will be firmly inside the top ten come next week.
Official Result: Navajo Stirling def. Jan Blachowicz by TKO (elbow and punches), Round 1, 2:56
