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The undefeated City Kickboxing prospect outstruck former Legacy Fighting Alliance champion Rodolfo Bellato to a three-round unanimous decision in their featured UFC Fight Night 260 prelim on Saturday at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Scores were 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
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Stirling (8-0, 3-0 UFC) called upon front kicks to the midsection and the occasional one two, all while surprising the Brazilian with a takedown in the second round. He fired hooks to the body from both hands, attacked the legs with kicks when the mood arose and managed to keep himself out of danger. Bellato (12-3-1, 1-1-1 UFC) stayed competitive, snapped back his counterpart’s head with more than one jab and zeroed in on the lower extremities with kicks of his own but failed to generate the kind of output he needed to turn the tide in his favor.
Meanwhile, ex-Stealth Fighters League titleholder Cameron Rowston disposed of Andre Petroski with punches in the first round of their middleweight affair. Rowston (13-3, 1-0 UFC) drew the curtain 2:41 into Round 1 and now finds himself on a five-fight winning streak.
Petroski (13-5, 8-4 UFC) tested the water with leg kicks but walked himself into peril. A Eugene Bareman protégé, the 6-foot-4 Rowston decked him with a check left hook, powered into top position and pounded away with punches until referee Steve Perceval arrived on the scene to wave it off.
The 34-year-old Petroski has suffered back-to-back defeats for the second time as a pro.
Further down the undercard, former Superfight MMA champion Jamie Mullarkey nailed down his first win in more than two years with a unanimous decision over Rolando Bedoya in a three-round lightweight tilt. All three cageside judges rendered the same ruling: 29-28 for Mullarkey (18-8, 6-6 UFC).
The 28-year-old Bedoya (14-5, 0-4 UFC) was largely ineffective through two rounds. Mullarkey alternated between his boxing and wrestling, forcing the Chute Boxe rep out of his comfort zone. He grounded Bedoya in the first round, progressed to the back, secured his position with a body triangle and hunted chokes. However, momentum started to shift late in the middle stanza, where fatigue took a bite out of Mullarkey. Bedoya trapped him on the feet across the final five minutes, unleashed his hands in multi-punch bursts, connected with a spinning back elbow and called upon a punishing jab. Mullarkey flexed his resilience, answered in spurts, kept his feet moving and withstood the rally.
Bedoya remains winless as a member of the UFC roster.
Elsewhere, American Top Team’s Michelle Montague kept her perfect professional record intact and made a successful Octagon debut with a unanimous decision over Luana Carolina in their three-round women’s bantamweight affair. Montague (7-0, 1-0 UFC) swept the scorecards with 29-26, 30-25 and 30-26 marks from the assigned judiciary.
Carolina (11-5, 6-4 UFC) opened multiple cuts—one near the hairline, the other near the right eye—with elbow strikes, but a second-round point deduction for an illegal upkick and her inability to stay upright proved costly. Montage seized the reins in the back half of the bout and did her best work in Round 3. There, she completed multiple takedowns, progressed from one dominant position to the next and piled up points with elbow-laced ground-and-pound. Montague eventually advanced to the back and threatened the neck but lacked the time she needed to pin down a choke.
The setback was Carolina’s first since March 2023.
Deeper into the prelims, City Kickboxing export Brando Pericic put away fellow promotional newcomer Elisha Ellison with punches in the first round of their heavyweight tilt. Ellison (5-2, 0-1 UFC) succumbed to blows 1:55 into Round 1.
Pericic (5-1, 1-0 UFC) leaned into his five-inch height and near 25-pound weight advantages, as he proceeded to bully the American all over the cage. He connected with thudding leg kicks and powerful one-twos, then turned takedown attempts from Ellison into offense. Pericic braced himself along the fence, scored with elbows to the side of the head, forced his opponent to pull guard, assumed top position and cut loose with punches until the job was done.
The loss snapped Ellison’s three-fight winning streak.
Finally, the surging Alexia Thainara rode repeated takedowns, suffocating positional control and a grinding clinch game to a unanimous decision over Syndicate MMA’s Loma Lookboonmee in their three-round women’s strawweight clash. All three cageside judges turned in 30-27 scorecards for Thainara (13-1, 2-0 UFC).
Overmatched physically and technically, Lookboonme (10-4, 7-3 UFC) was a non-factor. Thainara executed takedowns in all three rounds and applied her ground-and-pound in full mount, side control, half guard and full guard. On the feet, she trapped Lookboonme in the clinch, where she kicked at her legs, kneed the body and chipped away with close-range elbows to the head.
Thainara, 27, has rattled off 10 straight victories.
In other action, Colby Thicknesse (8-1, 1-1 UFC) outlasted Josias Musasa (8-2, 0-2 UFC) to a unanimous decision in their three-round bantamweight pairing, as he earned 29-28 scores across the board.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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