Referee Keith Peterson gave Lopes every opportunity to show he was still in the fight and was happy with the Brazilian\u2019s responses as Stirling had to work more than a minute of constant attack before finally forcing Peterson to step in. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels amazing. I\u2019m real happy I put in the work for that one,\u201d Stirling said on the broadcast after the win. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was just trying to take my time in there and not rush it like I did before. I worked a lot on my stamina and, yeah, I\u2019m just happy to get it.\u201d <\/p>\n
It capped off a solid performance from the Kiwi, who dictated the fight throughout. <\/p>\n
While Lopes had some success with his striking, Stirling did not seem at all deterred as he maintained forward pressure and worked well behind his jab. <\/p>\n
He did get himself in a little bit of trouble by throwing head kicks, which were consistently caught and turned into takedown attempts by Lopes. <\/p>\n
However, Stirling prides himself on being a well-rounded mixed martial artist and was able to defend every takedown Lopes attempted. <\/p>\n
That turned it into a battle of striking, which played into the hands of the Kiwi and his sizeable reach advantage. <\/p>\n
With four wins in a row, Stirling now holds the third-longest winning streak in the light heavyweight division behind Russian Azamat Murzakanov (6) and City Kickboxing teammate Carlos Ulberg (9). <\/p>\n
Stirling was one of two Kiwi fighters to be in action in Seattle, with teammate Israel Adesanya competing in the main event against No 14-ranked middleweight Joe Pyfer. <\/p>\n
The Herald will be live blogging the action from that bout, which is expected to go down at around 3.30pm. <\/p>\n