Navajo Stirling admits to facing most adversity in MMA career vs. Ion Cutelaba

Navajo
Stirling had to face adversity like never before against
Ion
Cutelaba. 

Stirling arguably faced his biggest step up in competition against
Cutelaba at
UFC Fight Night 279 on Saturday in Las Vegas. Cutelaba caught
Stirling in a standing guillotine early on, eventually dragging him
to the ground. While Cutelaba’s guillotine seemed seriously
threatening at one point, Stirling managed to pull his head out.
Both fighters were going back and forth in the second round before
Stirling reversed a takedown and unleashed lethal ground-and-pound
on a seated Cutelaba to secure a stoppage win. 

Stirling subsequently revealed that he had never faced adversity
like he did when Cutelaba jumped the guillotine. The undefeated
Kiwi believes the experience of surviving that adversity will add
to his mental arsenal. However, Stirling notes that while he faced
such a threat in a fight for the first time, he regularly drills
being in stressful positions at the
City Kickboxing gym in Auckland, New Zealand.

Valuable Experience

“He was stronger and dangerous a little bit longer than I
expected,” Stirling said in a post-fight interview with the UFC.
“He had me in some bad positions. I really had to work out of it. I
had never really been put there before in a fight. So, it was like
a good finishing moment, and also more rounds in the bank, more
experience in those bad positions to work out of mentally… CKB, at
the gym I know not just how to play the hammer, but how to play the
nail.”

Stirling (10-0) has five
UFC wins — with two finishes — since making his debut in 2024.
Meanwhile, Cutelaba (20-12) has now dropped two of his last three
outings. 

“I’ve never been there before in
a fight.”

Navajo
Stirling battles adversity early on, and bounces back to extend
his record to 10-0 at
#UFCVegas119

Main Card Results ➡️ https://t.co/LzpMSWtPYxpic.twitter.com/I2fiGJmTAs— UFC News
(@UFCNews)
June 21, 2026