UFC welterweight Li Jingliang loves to remind fans that anything can happen in MMA. In particular, Jingliang, who is set to face Tony Ferguson at UFC 279, had a prediction for the main event: Nate Diaz, a sizeable underdog, could pull off a “miracle” against Khamzat Chimaev. Jingliang made his startling prediction on The MMA Hour.
“I can’t give you a number about the chance [Diaz will win], but we all know based on the statistics and the data, Khamzat is the favorite, Nate is the underdog.
Jingliang Predicts “Miracle” Win for Nate Diaz Over Khamzat
But I think Khamzat has never fought in a five-round fight. Another big X-factor is Nate Diaz is Nate Diaz.
You don’t know what happens if the fight goes to the fifth round and the last minute and last seconds if you fight with Nate Diaz. What we really need is a miracle, is a surprise in the fight, and I believe Nate Diaz is the guy that can give you this.”
Jingliang continued, pointing out that he predicted Leon Edwards’ massive upset knockout victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 278.
“I said to my boxing coach before that fight, I think Leon has a chance to knock out Kamaru Usman — and then what happens in the fight?
We all know Kamaru Usman is a very well-rounded fighter, but I think most people underestimate how good Leon is at striking, and like I said, anything can happen at any moment in this sport.
It doesn’t matter if you are an underdog in other’s eyes. You have to trust in yourself and fight for your family, no matter who you fight against. If you are in the octagon, you are 50-50.”
Jingliang echoed the sentiment for his own scheduled bout against Tony Ferguson. “I believe Tony knows what he’s doing now.
He’s been in this business for a very long time. I think for each fighter, we just fight for ourselves, for our families, so I don’t think we need to care what others think about how this fight goes.
Our job is to fight, and the matchmakers job is to match fighters up who will give the fans a surprise, and your job as media is to let everybody know and watch this fight.
We’re not just simply hyping up the fight, we just want to let you fans know that it’s going to be a very exciting fight, a very interesting fight you have to watch.”
What’s your UFC 279 prediction? Let us know in the comments.
