Stirling Calls Out Rountree After Blachowicz TKO

Navajo Stirling stopped former heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in the first round at UFC Belgrade and immediately called for a fight with Khalil Rountree or Paulo Costa.

Stirling, who took the bout on short notice, dropped Blachowicz with a right hand and finished him with ground and pound at 2:56, per MMA Fighting. The undefeated New Zealander improved to 11-0 and claimed his second finish in six weeks.

Short-Notice Stirling Overwhelms Former Champion

Blachowicz landed an early jab that bloodied Stirling's face, according to BJPenn.com's play-by-play, but the momentum flipped when Stirling connected with a massive right that wobbled the 43-year-old Polish veteran. Stirling jumped on the downed fighter and unloaded elbows until referee Marc Goddard waved it off. One elbow opened a cut on Blachowicz's face during the assault.

"I think about fighting, it all starts up here [in the head], you can make it happen," Stirling said afterward, per MMA Fighting. "It's an absolutely honor to be able to share the ring with a former champion like Jan Blachowicz."

Stirling then scanned the rankings and delivered his callout. "If [Khalil] Rountree or [Paulo] Costa want to fight … I'll whoop that ass," he told the crowd. Blachowicz fell to 0-3-2 in his past five outings and faces questions about his future in the sport at his age.

Photo: Rafaelbruno13 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Original reporting:

• mmafighting.com — UFC Belgrade video: Navajo Stirling tears through Jan Blachowicz in first round, calls out Khalil Rountree and Paulo Costa | MMA Fighting
• bjpenn.com — UFC Belgrade Results: Navajo Stirling stops Jan Blachowicz in Round 1 (Video) | BJPenn.com