Last Saturday night, December 5, Navajo Stirling defeated three opponents in one night to become the King in the Ring super cruiserweight champion.

The 23-year-old grew up in Upper Hutt, near Wellington, and had a rugby background until he left school, after which he set his sights on becoming a fighter. Today, Stirling is 23 years old, with a 12-2 kickboxing record and his sights set on the UFC.

He holds the WKN World professional heavyweight K1 title, the WBC New Zealand professional heavyweight Muay Thai title, the WKA New Zealand professional heavyweight Muay Thai title, the NZMF North Island amateur heavyweight title, and now the 92kg King in the Ring title.

Fight News asked Stirling a few questions after his King in the Ring performance.

Hi Navajo, congrats on being King in the Ring. Did you expect to face Nato in the final?

“Yeah, when I saw him lined up on the other side of the draw, I thought that I would most likely see him in the final.”

You landed a lot of hard shots in that bout. Were you surprised at how tough Nato was?

“Yeah, he was really tough. I could see he was really digging deep, because he’d been through two wars already, but still had some left.

“I was impressed with how much he could take and how much he could push through.”

Navajo Stirling dropping bombs on Nato La'auli in their tournament final bout (photo: Calden Jamieson).

When you hurt your opponents, you seem to stay calm instead of going berserk for the finish. Is this a conscious decision you make to conserve energy?

“Yeah, partly to conserve my energy. Partly it’s just practising for future fights. I can take the win early or I can construct something else, another setup.

“It’s about getting more ring time. It’s so hard for me to get fights. I only had about 10 fights leading into this tournament. I’ve had the same mindset through all of my fights, to get ring time and gain as much experience as I can.

“If I had knocked out 10 guys in the first round, I wouldn’t have got as much experience and wouldn’t have got better.”

The commentators speculated in your first fight that you might have been saving your kicks for later fights in the tournament, is there any truth to this?

“I didn’t save my kicks; I threw lots of big low kicks on pretty much everyone. It was just making sure of my kicks, that I don’t stub a toe or hurt my shin accidentally.

“I know I have strong legs. Even now after all of those fights, my shins are solid. I could fight again tomorrow if I wanted to.”

You’ve stated previously that you plan to move into MMA. Is the UFC your ultimate goal?

“Yeah, most definitely. I see myself as the light heavyweight champion of the new generation.”

Tell me about the MMA training at the Lion Pit. Are you doing wrestling and BJJ every week?

“Yep, I’ve been doing it for about a year now. In my fight camps I’m still getting in my jiu-jitsu and MMA. I love it.

“We’re probably the only ones [the Lion Pit] in Wellington really pushing the MMA. We’re really trying to build our grappling and MMA team. We’ve got some good coaches with good experience now, that are all coming together.”

Many Kiwi MMA fighters turn their eyes to City Kickboxing. Have you thought about doing any training there?

“Yep, my older brother has just started kickboxing. He lives in Auckland and he trains at CKB. If I do go anywhere it would be City Kickboxing most likely.

“For me, I just want to get fights and experience. I think CKB is for when fighters are at the stage of becoming full-time professionals.

“At my experience level, I just want to get more fights, I don’t think I’m at that stage just yet.”

The Lion Pit's Shiva Mishra and Navajo Stirling looking shredded at the King in the Ring weigh-ins last Friday night (photo: the Lion Pit Facebook).

Your team-mate Shiva Mishra had a dominant performance on Saturday. Were you watching at the time?

“They wouldn’t let us go out and watch. I was pretty confident [in Shiva] though. I was up straight after his fight, and they said I needed to be out back, ready.

“The glove runner came in and said that he’d already won, by first round knockout. All of his other fights have been over in the first round. I remember saying to Shiva to try to make it last a bit longer this time, haha.”

Given your name, do you have Native American ancestry?

“Nah, it’s just my parents. My original first name is Rongotehengia, which is a Maori name, passed down through the family.”

What did you do to celebrate on Saturday night?

“Just kicking it with my family and all of my friends that had come up to support. Just showing my face, trying to see everyone that I could.”

What will you spend the $10k prize money on?

“I’ve always wanted to be smart with my money. I’m a bit of a minimalist; I don’t desire a lot of flash things, I just want security. I’ll probably look to buy a house with that money.”

When will we see you in action once again?

“I’m not too sure. Who wants to fight me? That’s another thing I’m kinda worried about, that people will get afraid to fight me.”

Have you thought about heading overseas to the China or Thailand circuit?

“Yeah, I thought I was gonna do all of that this year, but then Covid kinda put a halt on everything. It was kinda hard, but I feel like this year, I’ve really fulfilled it the best I can. I smashed all of my goals.”

Anyone you’d like to shout out to for helping you get this far?

“Definitely my family and my coaches at the Lion Pit – Ata Fakalelu and Pou Sefesi.”

It must be good having a King in the Ring veteran Ata in your corner. Did that help out in the tournament?

“Yeah, I feel like when I go in to fight, I fight with four eyes out there. It’s not just me out there. I feel like I can slow down time and fight with two pairs of eyes.

“He’s an awesome cornerman. We have that relationship where he knows me and I know him. I can react to his call-outs in a split second. We’re really good at dissecting and breaking down fighters.

“They game plan for me, but we don’t game plan. We just adjust on the fly, right then and there. Other fighters can’t fight with four eyes, they’re by themselves out there.”

Thanks for the interview Navajo. I can’t wait to see you back in action in 2021.

You can follow Navajo Stirling on his Instagram: @navajostirling or on his athlete Facebook page. Keep an eye on the Lion Pit for events and updates.