Navajo Stirling

Blachowicz’s stiff jab forced Stirling to a knee in the opening exchanges. Stirling answered with a clean right hand. The right hand sent Blachowicz backwards, and Stirling chased him to the mat. Stirling then worked with ground-and-pound. Heavy ground-and-pound opened Blachowicz until the referee stepped in at 2:56 of round one.

Key moments

• A stiff jab forced Stirling to a knee in the opening exchanges.
• Stirling answered with a right hand that sent Blachowicz backwards and took the fight to the mat.
• Heavy ground-and-pound opened Blachowicz and brought the referee in at 2:56 of round one.

Stirling used front kicks, body hooks and leg kicks to outwork Bellato over three rounds, while also surprising him with a second-round takedown. Bellato landed clean jabs and his own low kicks, but Stirling stayed out of danger and won a unanimous decision.

Key moments

• Stirling used front kicks to the midsection and a steady one-two to keep Bellato working at range.
• A second-round takedown from Stirling added a grappling change-up to his body-and-leg attack.
• Bellato answered with jabs and low kicks but could not produce enough output to swing the rounds.
• The judges scored the fight 30–27, 30–27 and 29–28 for Stirling.

In a striking-heavy matchup, Stirling edged the boxer Ivan Erslan by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27) at UFC 315 in Montreal. He defended Erslan's takedown attempts, mixed in his own, and nearly finished late when a flush cross buckled Erslan against the cage.

Key moments

• Erslan took an early round on the feet before Stirling defended his takedown and turned the position.
• A clean cross rocked Erslan into the cage late, and Stirling opened up with an unanswered barrage.
• Erslan survived to the final horn, but all three judges scored it for Stirling (29-28, 29-28, 29-27).