Li Jingliang wants a top-tier opponent for his next octagon appearance. The Chinese welterweight scored the biggest win of his UFC career last January, ending Santiago Ponzinibbio’s winning streak with a massive first-round knockout in Abu Dhabi, and his team now hopes to put him in a key fight in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Aims to return to UFC in October
According to China Top Team head coach Ruy Menezes, Jingliang will not be fighting soon as he is busy filming a TV show. He says “The Leech” was close to a fight with Leon Edwards earlier this year.
Upon his return Li Jingliang wants to fight Vicente Luque, Leon Edwards or Neil Magny.
“Jingliang came out of that fight with Ponzinibbio completely fine and could fight again a week later. And his manager from Paradigm, the same group that manages Leon Edwards, said they were going to offer a fight between them to UFC, and they thought UFC was open to it. But Jingliang stopped for now because he’s doing a TV show in China, so he asked to fight in October.”
Jingliang has a 10-4 record under the UFC banner with seven knockout victories, including stoppages over Ponzinibbio, Elizeu Zaleski and Dhiego Lima. For Menezes, it’s time to engage the Chinese star against someone ranked in the top 10.
“Jingliang is number 11 at the moment, so anyone in the top 10 would be excellent for him. I think they could match him against Vicente Luque, who is on a roll right now and is an outstanding boxer. Or even Leon Edwards.
Luque has yet to book his next fight after stopping Tyron Woodley in one round in March, his third consecutive UFC finish. Edwards returns to the cage in June, facing Nate Diaz .
Another “good” plan for Jingliang, Menezes says, would be a rematch with Neil Magny. Magny handed “The Leech” his only loss in the last three years, a unanimous decision in March 2020.
“We thought about asking for a rematch with Neil Magny because that fight was atypical, we had several problems, but we can’t make excuses, we just lost. I think anyone in the top 10 would be welcome.”
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