UFC: Navajo Stirling to make UFC debut against Tuco Tokkos in December

Navajo Stirling earned a UFC contract with a second-round KO on Dana White's Contender Series. Photo / Getty Images

Navajo Stirling could get used to this.

Rising through the ranks of the local scene, the Kiwi mixed martial artist at times struggled to find opponents.

A decorated kickboxer, Stirling has had just five professional MMA bouts since he made his debut in 2022 – three of those coming this year with the most recent earning him a UFC contract in Las Vegas last week.

Now signed to the biggest promotion in the sport, Stirling had to wait just a couple of days before he had signed his next appearance.

The 26-year-old will make his official UFC debut against Tuco Tokkos on December 15 in Tampa; a bout offer Stirling and his team received as they were on their way to the airport to fly home.

“I was just like ‘Man, I like this UFC stuff’,” he told the Herald.

“We’ve got a fight already? This is it. My whole career we’ve been talking about how we’re looking for fights; there was just so much waiting. Now I can be like boom, I’m in there. I’m going to be active as.

“I said I wanted to make my UFC debut in 2024, I tell people all the time that I will fight anyone. I just want to fight. I’ve been super active this year and I just keep saying anytime people want to throw that fight in my face I’m just like ‘Let’s do it’.”

As will be the case at least for his early bookings in the UFC, Stirling (5-0) will go into the bout with significantly less MMA experience than his opponent, with Tokkos having 14 professional bouts for 10 wins and four losses.

Tokkos, who hails from London, made his UFC debut in May, where he was submitted in the first round.

“He’s got a lot more MMA fights than me, has probably fought better guys than me, which is what everyone looks for. Who has this guy fought? Who has this guy beat? He’s fought better guys than me and that’s pretty much what I know.

“People are going to be sleeping on my record always, but they’ll soon realise, when I prove it on paper, how diverse my game is and how mature I am in this fight game.

“I showed that in my last fight, my maturity in the cage, and that [record] is very deceiving.”

For Stirling, the booking against Tokkos was about as perfect as he could have hoped for. He will get to make his UFC debut before the year is over, but a December fight night gives him a good three months before he gets to work.

That means he can take a little bit of time to enjoy the moment he is currently living in before training camp really ramps up.

Someone who put in plenty of groundwork on the regional scene, Stirling will return to those roots this weekend as a spectator to support his flatmate and fellow City Kickboxing fighter Caeden Skipper on the Arsenal X card in Auckland.

It’s local platforms such as Arsenal X, King in the Ring and Shuriken Fight Series that provide athletes like Stirling to develop, helping usher in the next generation of Kiwi combat sports talent.

“This is what I credit myself to; all of those co-mains, world title fights, King in the Ring eight-man [tournaments], just being a highly-touted prospect on there and having to deal with that pressure. I’ve just been dealing with that nonstop and I’m able to take it in my stride so relaxed.

“I credit my win on Dana White’s [Contender Series] to all of the groundwork I laid with Arsenal [X] and King in the right...it’s a cheat code, in my opinion.”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.