Stirling Reveals Bender Before Blachowicz Bout
Navajo Stirling was celebrating in Japan when the UFC called with a short-notice fight against former heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.
The undefeated Kiwi will face Blachowicz in the co-main event at UFC Belgrade this Saturday, stepping up to replace Bogdan Guskov less than two months after stopping Ion Cutelaba. Stirling told Home Of Fight the timing was less than ideal. "I'd just come off holiday mode in Japan," he said, per MMA Mania. "I'm always training in the gym despite whatever I'm doing, that's my routine. But yeah, just come off a massive bender and just rolled into the weeks and got offered a fight."
Youth Versus Experience At heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">Light Heavyweight
The 28-year-old has won five straight UFC bouts with stoppage wins over Cutelaba and Bruno Lopes, but Blachowicz represents a significant step up in competition even at 43. Stirling is a notable favourite despite the rushed preparation, banking on conditioning and the momentum from what he called his best training camp to date. "I just came off the best camp of my life, so why wouldn't I take it?" he added.
The fight books Saturday in Belgrade with Blachowicz looking to rebound and Stirling chasing his sixth straight octagon win.
Photo: MMAnytt / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Original reporting:
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