Navajo Stirling beat Tuco Tokkos by unanimous decision in his UFC debut. (File photo). Photo: Supplied/ Lion Pit Gym
Navajo Stirling has arrived in the UFC.
Walking around the cage gesturing that his performance was so-so as his British opponent Tuco Tokkos picked himself up off the canvas, Stirling would have been disappointed not to finish his debut fight with the promotion.
But in a lopsided unanimous decision victory in Florida, Stirling showed more of his skill set than he had needed to through his five previous professional bouts, with Tokkos able to wear plenty of damage and test Stirling's defensive grappling.
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While the 27-year-old Kiwi was taken down a couple of times, he never looked in real danger and stayed composed as he worked his way back to his feet, where he controlled the fight.
"I thought he would open himself up more earlier in the fight. I was too eager for the knockout; I just felt him cover up, survive and try to make it to the next round," Stirling said.
"He was just covering up. It was really hard to pierce his guard - he was pretty tight on defence."
Admitting that with just five bouts on his record outside of the UFC, he is still learning on the job, Stirling looked comfortable inside the octagon from the outset.
With a near-8cm reach advantage, Stirling got a good feel for that early as he stayed on the edge of his range and avoided some early strikes from Tokkos.
It was Stirling pushing the action in the first round, and Tokkos stayed on the outside and tried to be elusive with his footwork. Stirling didn't rush to try to connect with Tokkos, but looked to have him hurt as the damage accumulated from body shots before he mixed the targets and went upstairs.
While it looked like there might have been chances for Stirling to end the fight towards the back end of the first round, Tokkos survived to the bell.
The second round saw Tokkos attempt to grapple early, taking Stirling to the mat and trying to work to a dominant position. However, the Kiwi defended well and attacked once the two got back to their feet.
It was a similar story in the third round, as Tokkos took Stirling down but couldn't hold him there. As the final round ticked away, Stirling completely took over to put an exclamation mark on the win with some big shots in the final minute.
Stirling won the fight 30-27 on all three judges' scorecards, putting the finishing touches on the biggest year of his career to date.
*This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.