Navajo
Stirling doesn’t think he’s on a collision course with his
training partners in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Stirling (10-0) is scheduled to face his biggest step up in
competition so far in Jan
Blachowicz at
UFC Belgrade on Aug. 1 in Serbia. Stirling accepted the fight
on less than three weeks’ notice, after the former light
heavyweight champion’s original opponent, Bogdan
Guskov, accepted another short-notice booking.

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A win over Blachowicz moves the Kiwi closer to the title, which is
currently held by his teammate, Carlos
Ulberg (14-1). Despite former middleweight champion Robert
Whittaker also being in the mix at 205 pounds, Stirling doesn’t
see himself fighting either one of his teammates.

Navajo Stirling discusses Carlos Ulberg, Robert Whittaker and
the UFC 205-pound title picture

Whittaker (28-9), who has been training at
City Kickboxing lately, enjoyed a successful move up to the
light heavyweight division, finishing Nikita
Krylov. Amidst the Australian committing to the 205-pound
division and Ulberg winning the title, Stirling has shut down all
talks of a potential matchup against either Whittaker or
Ulberg.

Stirling also believes Whittaker and Ulberg have the same stance on
fighting their teammates and claims he can avoid a collision with
them as he is much younger. Rather, the 28-year-old wants to help
Ulberg cement his title reign at light heavyweight.

“Rob and Carlos are the best training partners, best bunch of
blokes to be around,” Stirling told Full Send MMA. “I don’t want to
fight either of them. I think we are all on the same page. I think
the difference between the boys and me is that I’m super young.
There’s no rush for me as well. Carlos has still got a couple of
years to solidify himself and I can still focus on helping him do
that.”

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

Internationaler Kampfkunst und Kampfsport Kleinanzeiger