Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/p>\nNavajo Stirling has been hearing the comparisons for a little while now. The size. The style. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s even been jokingly nicknamed the \u2018White Israel Adesanya\u2019.<\/p>\n
Stirling also trains out of City Kickboxing in Auckland, the same gym that produced Adesanya, and under the same watchful eye of coach Eugene Bareman.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s what \u201cThe Last Stylebender\u201d himself has said that\u2019s really turned heads.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think he\u2019s like me now, I think he\u2019s better than me, the next version,\u201d Adesanya told his YouTube followers after Stirling earned a contract to the UFC. <\/p>\n
Coming from a fighter who carved out one of the most decorated striking legacies in UFC history, it\u2019s a big deal.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old light heavyweight has built a spotless 8-0 pro record and will put it on the line at the upcoming UFC Fight Night card in Seattle \u2013 where Adesanya headlines against Joe Pyfer.<\/p>\n
Stirling is fighting Brazilian Bruno Lopes — but to be fair, the big Kiwi would have signed to throw down with just about anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really care who it is,\u201d he told Fox Sports Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether he is better or worse or whatever. I just want to fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cNames is what I\u2019m looking for and he\u2019s going to help me get that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Izzy, Stirling\u2019s combat journey started with kickboxing, where he captured two King of the Ring titles before joining the City Kickboxing gym to train alongside some of the best talent in the world.<\/p>\n
One of those men is light heavyweight contender Carlos Ulberg, who is one of the division\u2019s most polished strikers.<\/p>\n
Stirling says the daily exposure to Ulberg\u2019s skill and professionalism has reshaped his approach to the sport.<\/p>\n
Kiwi UFC star Navajo Stirling.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best fighters in the world and he\u2019s my training partner,\u201d says Stirling.<\/p>\n
\u201cI come at him with everything I\u2019ve got. I like to think that I keep him on his toes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a benchmark for me and he uses me to keep himself honest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got such a good working relationship and we don\u2019t take anything to heart – we\u2019re both strong minded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve looked up to him before he even knew who I was.\u201d<\/p>\n
But if they were ever matched against each other by the UFC in a title fight, Stirling says he wouldn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I mean, for UFC gold I\u2019ll fight anyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care who it is, even my own blood brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t know how it would work with us training in the same gym. <\/p>\n
\u201cWould they split us up or make us train next to each other? Maybe I could train in Thailand or something.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really like to think about it too much because we are in different parts of our careers. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve got ages to go to get to the top. But yeah, it\u2019d be crazy if that did happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ulberg, who is ranked #3 in the world and is currently riding a 9-fight winning streak, might get a shot at the title this year.<\/p>\n
Stirling isn\u2019t shy about calling him the next champ.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019re gonna run it with him and Jiri [Prochazka],\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know that, but if it does happen I\u2019ve got no doubt in my mind that Carlos will be the next champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve worked alongside him for so long and know how good he is. I can\u2019t see him losing to any of those guys.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be crazy times to have City Kickboxing back on top again.\u201d<\/p>\n
While City Kickboxing once seemed unstoppable in MMA, some fight fans believe the gym has lost a bit of the lightning-in-a-bottle magic that made it such a powerhouse.<\/p>\n
Stirling sees himself as the start of the next wave.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m such a proud representative of New Zealand and City Kickboxing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had Israel on top for such a long time \u2013 and then when he came off the throne we had people coming at us saying that we were finished and what not.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been going through a long rebuilding phase and now seeing all the new guys coming though. So much talent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got like 4-5 new guys in the UFC — all out of one team and we\u2019re all homegrown fighters. It\u2019s like another wave coming through.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just goes to show that we\u2019re a top gym. And New Zealand is just a country of five million. It\u2019s so impressive and something to be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chaos as MMA fighter bites opponent | 00:58<\/p>\n
And when it comes to Lopes, Stirling is blunt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to put this guy away and remind everyone that I\u2019m the best prospect in the light heavyweight division,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Israel Adesanya starts talking about the next generation, people tend to listen. When he starts saying one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-474966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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