13 things about UFC fighter Navajo Stirling from Upper Hutt, New Zealand

Rongotehengia Navajo Hunter Stirling is a Māori professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter fighting out of Auckland, New Zealand. He trains at City Kickboxing in Morningside, Auckland.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by N A V A J O (@navajostirling)

BIOGRAPHY

Originally from Upper Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand, Stirling attended Upper Hutt College in Trentham, Upper Hutt. He is 6’4″ tall and he competes in the light heavyweight division.

Currently, Stirling is signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. Before joining the UFC, he competed in Shuriken Fight Series and Hex Fight Series.
2. He holds a professional MMA record of 7 wins and 0 loss and a professional kickboxing record of 19 wins, 2 losses and 10 draws.
3. On March 30, 2019, he lost to Fou Ah-Lam via majority decision in a kickboxing bout at “King in the Ring 24” in Auckland.
4. On October 31, 2020, he defeated Des Tana via decision in a Muay Thai bout at “Roar Fight Nights 4” in Lower Hutt, Wellington.
5. In 2021, he moved to Auckland.
6. In June 2022, he became Outer City Clothing‘s first ever sponsored athlete.
7. On September 5, 2022, Reliable Performance Motors announced its first sponsorship with him.
8. On September 9, 2022, he became the new World Kickboxing Federation (WKBF) K-1 World Heavyweight Champion by beating Jesse Astill at a King in the Ring event in Auckland.
9. On September 23, 2022, he made his professional MMA debut.
10. On October 22, 2022, he ran a striking seminar at the Lion Pit in Te Aro, Wellington.
11. On June 10, 2023, he defeated Eung Kyu “Harry” Kim in a boxing+K1+Muay Thai (Arsenal-X) bout in King in the Ring in Auckland.
12. On November 7, 2024, he turned 27.
13. On December 14, 2024, he made his UFC debut.

TIMELINE

From 2022 to 2024, Stirling fought seven professional MMA opponents. Here are the results:

2022

• On September 23, 2022, he defeated James Craughwell via unanimous decision at “SFS 2” in Auckland.

2023

• On October 28, 2023, he defeated Kelvin Fitial via technical knockout at “Shuriken Fight Series 16” in Auckland.

2024

• On May 4, 2024, he knocked out Stuart Dare at “Hex Fight Series 30” in Auckland.
• On June 14, 2024, he defeated Sam Kei via TKO at “Hex Fight Series 31” in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• On September 10, 2024, he knocked out Phillip Latu at “Dana White’s Contender Series 2024” Week 5 in Enterprise, Nevada.
• On December 14, 2024, he defeated Tuco Tokkos via unanimous decision at “UFC on ESPN 63” in Tampa, Florida, USA.

2025

• On May 10, 2025, he defeated Ivan Erslan via unanimous decision at “UFC 315” in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.