Navajo Stirling did not hesitate to fight Jan Blachowicz on short notice.
Blachowicz (29-11-2 MMA, 12-8-2 UFC) was scheduled to run things back with Bogdan Guskov in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 283 (Paramount+) co-main event at Belgrade Arena in Serbia, but Guskov was pulled to face Magomed Ankalaev this past Saturday at UFC Fight Night 282 in Abu Dhabi.
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Stirling (10-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) got the call to face Blachowicz on less than three weeks’ notice after having just fought last month. He finished Ion Cuțelaba by second-round TKO at UFC Fight Night 279 in June.
“I’d just come off holiday mode in Japan,” Stirling told Home Of Fight. “I’m always training in the gym despite whatever I’m doing. That’s my routine. But, yeah, just come off a massive bender and just rolled into the weeks and got offered a fight. I just said, ‘Yeah, bro, I’m keen. I’m training everyday.’ So, just got to utilize my youth. I just came off the best camp of my life, so why wouldn’t I take it?”
Blachowicz marks a big step up in competition for Stirling, who admits he didn’t expect to face the former UFC light heavyweight champion so soon. According to FanDuel, the City Kickboxing fighter is a -350 favorite over Blachowicz, which he finds surprising.
“Damn, I thought I was going to be the underdog,” Stirling said. “Maybe I got to post my clips from Japan getting on the bender (laughs). Maybe the lines will shoot the other way.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Navajo Stirling came ‘off a massive bender’ when he accepted Jan Blachowicz fight
