Preview: UFC on ESPN 63 ‘Covington vs. Buckley’

Light Heavyweights

Navajo Stirling (5-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. George Tokkos (10-4, 0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Stirling (-500), Tokkos (+380)

He’s still a clear work in progress, but Stirling has one of the highest upsides out of any of the contract winners on this past season of the Contender Series. A kickboxing convert, Stirling still needs to develop some comfort inside the cage through sheer experience, but his combination of athleticism and skill should pay off in the long haul. The Kiwi has landed with one of the best camps in the world at City Kickboxing, and he’s a massive athlete with knockout power. With that said, there’s the potential that Stirling could be shocked against someone with the combination of power and speed to meet him on his own terms, but it would be a surprise if that came in this UFC debut against Tokkos.

Tokkos is a solid enough fighter, capable as a wrestler and a striker, but his fights under the UFC’s auspices have driven home the idea that he’ll struggle as a non-athlete in an athlete’s division. He got obliterated by Mingyang Zhang in a showcase bout as part of the promotion’s “Road to UFC” programming, and a late-notice debut in May saw him have little answer for Oumar Sy. Stirling isn’t quite as aggressive as those two, but he still figures to win this eventually through sheer horsepower. The pick is Stirling via second-round knockout.

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Covington vs. Buckley
Quarantillo vs. Swanson
Kape vs. Silva
Petrino vs. Jacoby
Marcos vs. Yanez
Stirling vs. Tokkos
The Prelims