The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word POLEMIST
P
O
L
E
M
I
S
T
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "He stirs up controversy" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case he stirs up controversy = polemist.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.