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Stirling (10-0) is scheduled to face his biggest step up in competition so far in Jan Blachowicz at UFC Belgrade on Aug. 1 in Serbia. Stirling accepted the fight on less than three weeks’ notice, after the former light heavyweight champion’s original opponent, Bogdan Guskov, accepted another short-notice booking.
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A win over Blachowicz moves the Kiwi closer to the title, which is currently held by his teammate, Carlos Ulberg (14-1). Despite former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker also being in the mix at 205 pounds, Stirling doesn’t see himself fighting either one of his teammates.
Navajo Stirling discusses Carlos Ulberg, Robert Whittaker and the UFC 205-pound title picture
Whittaker (28-9), who has been training at City Kickboxing lately, enjoyed a successful move up to the light heavyweight division, finishing Nikita Krylov. Amidst the Australian committing to the 205-pound division and Ulberg winning the title, Stirling has shut down all talks of a potential matchup against either Whittaker or Ulberg.
Stirling also believes Whittaker and Ulberg have the same stance on fighting their teammates and claims he can avoid a collision with them as he is much younger. Rather, the 28-year-old wants to help Ulberg cement his title reign at light heavyweight.
“Rob and Carlos are the best training partners, best bunch of blokes to be around,” Stirling told Full Send MMA. “I don’t want to fight either of them. I think we are all on the same page. I think the difference between the boys and me is that I’m super young. There’s no rush for me as well. Carlos has still got a couple of years to solidify himself and I can still focus on helping him do that.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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