Navajo Stirling Keeps His ‘O’ Intact with Hard-Hitting Win Over Tuco Tokkos – UFC Tampa Highlights
Undefeated newcomer Navajo Stirling kept his ‘O’ intact, scoring a dominant decision victory over Tuco Tokkos in the UFC Tampa main card opener.
Things started relatively slow between the two as Tokkos skirted around the outer part of the Octagon and Stirling looked to pressure early. With roughly 90 seconds to go in the opening round, Stirling appeared to catch Tokkos with a body shot during an awkward exchange. That encouraged Stirling to deliver a barrage of strikes against the fence, but Tokkos survived the onslaught and made it to the second round.
No longer interested in standing and trading with Stirling, Tokkos tried to get his wrestling game going right away in the second stanza. 90 seconds into the round, Tokkos managed to muscle Stirling down, but it wasn’t long before the New Zealander fought his way back up and started to unload on Tokkos.
To Tokkos’ credit, he took everything Stirling gave him, including an especially nasty uppercut against the fence, and managed to drag Stirling back down to the mat for the second time.
With both fighters starting to run on empty, much of the third round was spent clinching against the fence. With a minute to go, Stirling caught Tokkos with a couple of body shots that had him reeling.
Stirling turned up the heat and was looking to get a finish in the waning moments of the round, but Tokkos opted to shoot for a desperation takedown. That was enough to run out the clock and send the fight to the scorecards.
Official Result: Navajo Stirling def. Tuco Tokkos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
