UFC light heavyweight contender Navajo Stirling has revealed one of the most bizarre backstage incidents in Dana White’s Contender Series history, revealing how a fighter who once submitted Alex Pereira had a brutal mental breakdown moments before his fight and never made it to the cage.

Speaking with Full Send MMA ahead of his big fight at UFC Belgrade this weekend, the undefeated Kiwi said that he shared a locker room with Brazilian welterweight Quemuel Ottoni, who was scheduled to face Kody Steele in the 2024 season of DWCS in September of that year.

“The guy that was on Contenders [Series] was probably the worst one,” Stirling said. “He was fighting Kody Steele. He choked out Alex Pereira back in the day. He was on my corner, so I was in his, like, locker room.”

Quemuel Ottoni famously submitted ‘Poatan’ with a rear-naked choke at Jungle Fight 82 in October 2015, years before Alex Pereira became the legendary two-division UFC champion. Navajo Sterling recalled the now-33-year-old confidently staring down Steele during fight week and acting aggressively at the weigh-ins before everything changed the night of the fight.

“At the weigh-ins, he is puffing his chest,” he continued. “He’s a welterweight; he’s looking lightweight. He’s looking at me, staring me in the eyes, trying to give me the energy, and he’s staunching Kody Steele out at the weigh-in. And I was thinking, ‘Oh, this is gonna be a banger.’

“We get to the fight night, and he just started crying. He took his gloves off, like, three or four times, bro. They had to re-wrap his hands. I think he had Cutman Tate; Tate was just like, ‘F— this guy. I’m not wrapping his hands anymore.'”

The Kiwi fighter added that the locker room tried to encourage the Brazilian to fight before he eventually pulled out of the fight.

“He just ripped off the past three hand wraps,” Stirling added. “And he was right before I was fighting, so in my head, I was like, yeah, I’m getting ready to go out. I would rather go out and get knocked out a hundred times over than not go out at all.

“Like, me and Eugene we’re like, ‘Chama brother, Chama,’ like we’re trying to G him up, bro. You know, like, I just couldn’t take him seriously. ‘Chama brother, Chama!'”

Quemuel Ottoni later addressed the incident in a video posted on his Instagram, admitting that he had suffered an anxiety attack before making the walk.

“I ended up not fighting yesterday after really having an anxiety crisis, adrenaline, freezing a bit after seeing all that,” he said in Portuguese. “Watching it from the other side of the screen is one thing, but being there and seeing the cameras, cars, and even people you … There’s no excuse for what happened.

“It was a mix of everything: the anxiety, seeing the camera, seeing the cutman doing my hands, people I’ve seen the most, and that’s it.”

As a result of his sudden withdrawal from the event, the UFC decided to never bring Ottoni on. Meanwhile, they rebooked Kody Steele to another DWCS fight the very next month, where he secured his UFC contract and has since fought in the promotion twice. Being a part of The Contender Series marked a turning point for both Quemuel Ottoni and Navajo Stirling, although in very different directions.

The Brazilian has only fought once after the incident, a first-round TKO loss on the regional circuit, whereas the Kiwi fighter secured his UFC contract that night and has since won five consecutive fights inside the Octagon, and is currently ranked No.11 in the light heavyweight rankings. And now, Navajo Stirling’s rapid rise has earned him the toughest matchup of his career.

Navajo Stirling lands biggest test yet against a former champion

The unbeaten New Zealander has stepped in to face former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz at UFC Belgrade this Saturday, after Bogdan Guskov was moved to face Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Abu Dhabi last week following Khalil Rountree‘s injury.

The 28-year-old comes into the fight with a perfect 10-0 professional record and a second-round TKO win over Ion Cutelaba last month in June. The performance extended his UFC win streak to five and solidified him as one of the UFC’s fastest-rising contenders. His next assignment, however, will be a significant step up in competition.

Jan Blachowicz won the UFC light heavyweight title in 2020, defending it successfully against Israel Adesanya before losing it against Glover Teixeira the following year. The veteran has remained around the top of the division ever since, most recently losing a unanimous decision against the now-champion Carlos Ulberg.

So now, Navajo Stirling will need some ice-cool veins to grab a win over the former champion, as it would undoubtedly be Stirling’s most significant victory to date, propelling the unbeaten Kiwi’s status from a new name from DWCS to one of the biggest names in the light heavyweight title conversation.