Navajo Stirling: From Shy Upper Hutt Kid to UFC Champion

Navajo Stirling is a UFC light heavyweight fighter and one of the most exciting fighters coming out of New Zealand right now. He is trained by the mixed martial arts guru Eugene Bereman at City Kickboxing in Auckland.

At the time of recording this intro, Navajo is in Seattle on a UFC lineup with Israel Adesanya…

Which is a really cool full circle moment- from the moment he decided he wanted to be a UFC fighter he followed the exact steps and blueprint created by Izzy.

This podcast is part of the Navajo Stirling story:

+ His upbringing in Upper Hutt…and only discovering the UFC while working at Foodstuffs and going to a co-worker’s house to watch a Connor MacGregor fight on TV.

+ What it actually takes to get to the UFC…the financial reality of it…and why so many people never make it.

+ His first time meeting and training his hero, Israel, after watching and imitating every single fight he had ever had on YouTube.

+ There’s also some great stuff in here about fighting itself: what it feels like to get hit, why he says everything slows down in the cage…and how he deals with pressure when he’s about to walk out. And then there’s the bigger stuff: purpose, potential and his fear of becoming just another “should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.”

I think you will also enjoy this if you like learning about Kiwis who are out there chasing dreams and goals that seem impossible- its inspiring stuff.

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