{"id":838401,"date":"2026-08-01T19:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T19:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/838401\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T19:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T19:52:08","slug":"ufc-belgrade-live-blog-jan-blachowicz-vs-navajo-stirling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/838401\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC Belgrade live blog: Jan Blachowicz vs. Navajo Stirling"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">This is the live blog for Jan Blachowicz vs. Navajo Stirling, the light heavyweight co-main event for Saturday\u2019s UFC Belgrade card at Belgrade Arena in Belgrade, Serbia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">A former UFC champion, Blachowicz (29-11-2) currently stands at No. 6 at 205 pounds in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmafighting.com\/rankings\/495469\/mma-divisional-rankings-justin-gaethje-finally-reigns-as-lightweight-king\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MMA Fighting Global Rankings.<\/a> Blachowicz fought Bogdan Guskov to a majority draw in his most recent outing and the two were supposed to rematch Saturday until Guskov was moved to a fight with Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Abu Dhabi this past weekend (Guskov replaced an injured Khalil Rountree Jr.). That unsatisfying result dropped Blachowicz to 0-2-2 in his past four fights and he hasn\u2019t scored a win since an injury TKO over Aleksandar Rakic in 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Stirling (10-0) has won his first five fights to establish himself as a future contender in the light heavyweight division. The City Kickboxing product has finished his past two opponents, but faces a huge step up in competition in Blachowicz as he strives to break into the top 10 of the rankings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Check out the Jan Blachowicz vs. Navajo Stirling live blog below.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Well, that was terrible. This event has been pretty fun, but that feature fight got real heavyweight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Not entirely sure this will be much better, either.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Stirling walks out to some very somber music. He looks normal. Jan looks a little nervy as he walks? Also, Jon Anik says something about him being unable to lift weights during camp, and now he\u2019s seeming like an old man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Even still, the old man is a saavy fighter. I suspect he uglies this fight up, slows it down, and loses on points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Jan is 15 years older, 2 inches shorter, and a big dog at +265 with Stirling coming in at -340.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Buffer gets things going and it\u2019s time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Jan out quickly to the center. Stirling with some lead leg kicks early, just small. Then he goes high and slips, allowing Jan to jump on him. But Stirling scrambles up and now they\u2019re clinched against the fence, with Stirling holding Jan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">In-fighting here but now major gains. Stirling with more inside calf kicks, staying busy. Jan trying to walk him down but hasn\u2019t thrown much.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">OH! Stirling drops to a knee and it looks like Jan caught him with a big left hand as he stepped in. Jan tries to pound but Stirling clinches to buy time. He seems to be OK but he had to work it out. Stirling on his bike now, and he\u2019s bleeding from the nose as Jan comes forward. But Stirling is getting busier now, with a sharp jab.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">HUGE RIGHT HAND from Stirling lands clean and sends Blachowicz to the mat! The commentary is quiet but this might be the end for Jan! Stirling pounces and he\u2019s pouring on the ground-and-pound! And that\u2019s it!<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">WOW. What a performance from Navajo Stirling!<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Navajo Stirling def. Jan Blachowicz via TKO (punches) \u2014 2:56, Round 1.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Stirling keeps it simple in his post fight. He shouts out Blachowicz, saying he\u2019s a big fan. Then apologizes for missing his sister\u2019s 21st birthday. Then calls for a fight with either Khalil Rountree of Paulo Costa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is the live blog for Jan Blachowicz vs. Navajo Stirling, the light heavyweight co-main event for Saturday\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":838402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,1347,785,85,787,1396],"class_list":["post-838401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-ufc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838401","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=838401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}