Navajo Stirling kept his unblemished professional record intact with a unanimous decision win over Rodolfo Bellato in the featured preliminary bout at UFC Fight Night: Ulberg vs. Reyes.
Stirling improved to 3-0 in the UFC and 8-0 as a pro after out-landing Bellato 81 to 43 in significant strikes over the course of 15 minutes in the 205-pound division.
The 27-year-old was one of a handful of fighters on the card who trains out of City Kickboxing in New Zealand, the same team made famous by former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who was in the crowd cheering on his teammates.
All three of Stirling’s UFC wins have been by unanimous decision.
Also on the prelims, Michelle Montague failed to find a rear-naked choke finish for the first time in her career, but the former Professional Fighters League standout made good in her UFC debut.
Montague, the first woman from New Zealand to sign with the UFC, improved to 7-0 with a unanimous decision over Luana Carolina. Montague primarily fought at 145 pounds in the PFL and Carolina is a former 125-pounder. This matchup took place at 135 pounds and Montague used her size and strength advantage to repeatedly take Carolina down, landing ground strikes and maintaining top control.
Carolina, who was deducted a point in the second round for an illegal strike to a grounded opponent, had a three-fight winning streak snapped.
South Australia’s Brando Pericic impressed the home crowd with a first-round knockout win over fellow UFC newcomer Elisha Ellison in the heavyweight division.
Pericic, 31, landed a series of massive left hands from ground and pound that put Ellison to sleep in violent fashion. Pericic is 5-1 and has won all five by stoppage, with his three most recent outings all coming within two minutes of the opening round. Pericic is also from City Kickboxing.
Cameron Rowston also won his UFC debut, putting away veteran middleweight Andre Petroski midway through the first round with a technical knockout.
Rowston earned a UFC contract through Dana White’s Contender Series less than six weeks ago, thanks to a first-round TKO win over Brandon Holmes. Rowston, 30, has now won his past five fights and helped the City Kickboxing team go 3-0 on the prelims.
Alexia Thainara extended her winning streak and improved to 2-0 in the UFC with a strong showing against Loma Lookboonmee in strawweight action to kick off the prelims. Thainara, whose only loss in MMA was six years ago in her third pro bout, has now won 11 in a row overall after sweeping the scorecards.
Colby Thicknesse edged out fellow bantamweight Josias Musasa by decision. Australia’s Thicknesse bounced back from a decision loss to Aleksandre Topuria in his UFC debut, while Congo’s Musasa fell to 0-2 at the UFC level in 2025 after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series one year ago.
Australia’s Jamie Mullarkey withstood a late third-round comeback attempt from Peru’s Rolando Bedoya to hang on for a unanimous decision win with 29-28 scores from all three judges. Mullarkey snapped a two-fight skid as Bedoya fell to 0-4 in the UFC, with all four losses being via decision.
The event took place at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, with the preliminary card beginning just after 7 a.m. local time.
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