Undefeated Stirling survives Cutelaba's guillotine to stay perfect at UFC Fight Night 279

Navajo Stirling remained undefeated at 10-0 with a second-round stoppage of Ion Cutelaba at UFC Fight Night 279 on Saturday in Las Vegas, surviving the most serious threat of his MMA career in the process.

Cutelaba caught Stirling in a standing guillotine early in the fight and dragged him to the canvas, putting the undefeated New Zealander in genuine danger for the first time as a professional. Stirling worked his head free, weathered the storm, and then turned the tide in the second round — reversing a takedown and unleashing ground-and-pound on a seated Cutelaba until the referee stepped in.

Speaking to the UFC after the fight, Stirling acknowledged the moment tested him in ways no previous opponent had. “He was stronger and dangerous a little bit longer than I expected,” he said. “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 credited his training at City Kickboxing in Auckland, New Zealand, for preparing him to handle the adversity even if he had never encountered it in a live fight before. He believes surviving the guillotine will strengthen his mental game going forward.

The 10-0 record now includes five UFC victories — two of them finishes — since Stirling made his promotional debut in 2024, a remarkable rate of progress for a fighter still early in his career. Cutelaba, a veteran of the light heavyweight division, falls to 20-12 and has now lost two of his last three bouts.