Navajo Stirling says the short-notice call to fight Jan Blachowicz came right after a Japan holiday, but he is treating the UFC Belgrade co-main event as exactly the kind of jump he wanted.
Stirling is set to face the former UFC light heavyweight champion on the Serbia card after a late divisional reshuffle left Blachowicz needing a new opponent. The booking puts Stirling into a top-five test far earlier than a normal prospect climb, and it came after Blachowicz’s planned Bogdan Guskov rematch was already part of the UFC Belgrade shuffle.
Asked by Home of Fight whether he was already in camp or simply had to get back to work, Stirling said he had just returned from Japan, but never fully stepped away from training.
“No, I just come off the holiday mode, bro,” Stirling said. “Just in Japan. I’m always training at the gym despite whatever I’m doing. It’s like my routine. I was back in routine, but yeah, just come off a massive bender, and yeah, just rolled into the weeks, and yeah, got offered a fight, so as I said, yeah, bro, I’m keen. Like, I’m training like I train every day, so just got to utilize my youth, and I just come off the best camp of my life, so why wouldn’t I take it?”
Stirling also pushed back on any concern that the celebration or quick turnaround would leave him short on conditioning.
“Yeah, bro. Yeah, yeah, I could go five rounds if I wanted to,” Stirling said. “I’ve got the experience. I know how to take my time.”
“The fight for Aljamain, I was like the fittest I’ve ever been,” Stirling said. “Took a while to wake up the engine, but like a couple days, but once I got into like the camp groove and my body got used to the load, yeah, I pretty much was back to where I left off for that fight, so I’m amped. My confidence is actually growing more and more as the days come closer.”
He said the habit of returning to the gym immediately after fights helped make the late call manageable.
“I always train. I always train,” Stirling said. “I’m always in the gym and that mindset that I had of getting back on my mats as soon as possible from every fight has finally paid off, and yeah, I’m real, real happy.”
Stirling Says Travel And Weight Are Under Control
Stirling said the trip from New Zealand to Serbia is not new territory for him because he has already handled difficult UFC travel weeks before.
“I’m far away everywhere I go, so like I’m just used to doing big commutes,” Stirling said. “Actually, in my first year of two UFC first trips to America, I rolled in on Wednesday on fight week. I was water weight cutting on the plane. Twice I done that. And I made it, you know, I done it before, so like for me this is no massive turn.”
“I’m going on the Sunday, so I’ve got heaps of time and I should land there,” Stirling said. “Should be ready to go Monday fight week, enough time to roll around. Fortunately, I’m a really good sleeper.”
He described sleep as a major reason he can reset quickly during travel and camp.
“I’m like a really good sleeper. I’m really good at adjusting to time zones,” Stirling said. “I’ve got the superpower, bro, where as soon as I’m like, oh, I got to go to bed at this time, I just close my eyes and I’m gone, bro.”
“That’s actually what got me ready for a camp was being able to sleep in the middle of the day and between sessions just at will,” Stirling said, “and it was like supercharging me while being on the caloric deficit to make the weight through the past two weeks, so oh, bro, I’m more than ready.”
Stirling said the weight cut is also on schedule.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, my weight’s good. My weight’s good,” Stirling said. “I’m getting the cheekbones coming back, so. Yeah, no, my weight’s always pretty good, bro. I’m always in good shape. I’m always lean.”
Stirling Sees Openings Against Blachowicz
Stirling did not dismiss Blachowicz’s level. He pointed to the former champion’s staying power, then said he studied Blachowicz’s close fight with City Kickboxing teammate Carlos Ulberg, who later moved into the title picture after Alex Pereira vacated the UFC light heavyweight belt.
“Old man Jan, man, he’s still got it,” Stirling said. “He’s still got it. He’s been operating at the highest level of the sport at his age is something impressive, man. It’s actually crazy that he’s still in the top five.”
“He’s been beaten, but it’s not like he was getting wasted, you know?” Stirling said. “He obviously had a really close fight against Carlos, who’s my teammate, and yeah, I just picked out some of the things Carlos did in that fight and where I can capitalize a little bit better.”
That film study is one reason Stirling sounded comfortable with the matchup despite the name value attached to Blachowicz.
“When I’m watching him fight as opposed to the other guys, he’s someone I can understand what he’s trying to do in the cage and what he’s having trouble with trying to pull off out of his own bag,” Stirling said. “I think I have the tools.”
“I remember watching that fight, actually, when he fought Jan and I said to myself, like, man, if I get in those spots, I feel like I could do a really good job here, and he’d be the perfect stylistic matchup for me,” Stirling said.
“That’s why I was so amped when I got the shot offered to me,” Stirling said. “I never thought I’d ever fight him cuz I was just like, oh, we’re just too far apart in age and ranking. So I was like, that fight’s never going to happen, but here we are and I jumped on it as soon as I could.”
Stirling said he is not asking teammates Israel Adesanya or Ulberg for a secret Blachowicz blueprint, because Blachowicz has changed over time and Stirling believes his own style is different.
“Those fights between him and Carlos were like five years apart and then Jan looks like a different fighter back to when he fought Izzy versus the way he’s fighting now,” Stirling said. “I think the boys know I’ve just got a complete different game to theirs and they’re just amped for me. They know I’m going to win, so they’re just like, oh, everyone’s about to know, you know?”
Stirling Wants A Finish And A Top-Five Jump
Blachowicz has made a career out of taking opponents into close, uncomfortable fights. Stirling said the answer is pressure with discipline, not rushing into a veteran counter.
“I’m looking for my third finish,” Stirling said. “Obviously, with Jan he’s very experienced. He knows how to recover. And he can counter you when you think you got him.”
“For me, I just got to be disciplined right from round one,” Stirling said. “I keep touching him up, apply pressure at the right times and I think I can get it done. But, you know, I just can’t get overzealous and look for it too early and empty the tank.”
“It’s going to be a chess match, but I just need to explode and use my youth a little bit and I think I can get it done,” Stirling said.
The opportunity could move Stirling from the edge of the rankings into the title mix if he beats Blachowicz, on a card that also picked up attention when Jon Anik received a rare UFC Fight Night assignment for Belgrade. He said he is ready for that jump now because his earlier UFC fights already put him in difficult positions.
“Yeah, 100%,” Stirling said when asked if he was ready to go from unranked opponents to top-five title contenders. “The first three fights I had, all those situations I was put in. I could have gone in and knocked everyone out in the first round and came out with nothing. But when you go in as a young undefeated prospect with five fights and you get put in situations, you get taken down, you’re having a bit of trouble on the feet, maybe getting backed up, maybe you’re going forward, the guy’s taking you down, you got to get up. All those situations I’ve been put in in all of those fights and now everything’s clicking.”
“There’s no need to hesitate,” Stirling said. “I can just fully be free in the end and start to show my bag in the cage. Pretty much I’m ready to go.”
“People are going to look at me like I’ve been a top-five fighter my whole career after this one,” Stirling said.
Stirling said he is open to names such as Khalil Rountree Jr. or Paulo Costa later, but kept the focus on Blachowicz first, with the division still reacting to Magomed Ankalaev’s late finish over Guskov at UFC Abu Dhabi. He also said he already had a Bali holiday booked after the fight and would keep training there before trying to fight again in October or November if the schedule works.
“I’m just solely focused on the present moment, which is obviously fight Jan,” Stirling said. “But yeah, man, there’s so many good fights for me.”
“I’m going straight on holiday after this fight,” Stirling said. “I’ll get my break, that’s for sure. And I’ll be training on holiday, you know, I’m going to Bali after this with my partner.”
“When I come, I’m ready to go again,” Stirling said. “I’ve seen there’s a card in October, or maybe November. It doesn’t matter. Just whoever’s around.”
Before the interview ended, Stirling laughed after being told he was a betting favorite rather than an underdog.
“Damn, I thought I was going to be the underdog,” Stirling said. “Maybe I got to post my clips from Japan getting on the plane. Maybe the lines will shoot the other way.”
