In all the excitement and chaos of the UFC 279 fight week, welterweight Li Jingliang remained calm. Now, after losing a controversial decision to Daniel Rodriguez – who he wasn’t even originally supposed to fight – “The Leech” has a lot to say about the “injustice” of this month’s pay-per-view.
Jingliang discussed how Khamzat’s failure to make weight trickled down to affect his fight plans on The MMA Hour, while wearing a shirt emblazoned with the word “Robbed!”
Li Jingliang On the “Injustice” Of UFC 279
“It’s a robbery. Last Saturday was an awful Saturday to me. Awful. All the athletes, all the fighters on this card prepared for these fights very seriously, but [there was] a lot of chaos during the last week. I think it’s a terrible situation.”
Jingliang seemed to dominate much of his fight with Daniel Rodriguez, although the judges’ scorecards had the fight much closer than it appeared. He felt that the decision should have gone his way, and described the “injustice” of not being awarded the win considering the extenuating circumstances that led him to fight Rodriguez in the first place.
“Of course I think I won the fight. I won the fight. When Bruce Buffer declared a result, I couldn’t believe that. I couldn’t believe that. It’s already an awful matchup, and the result was worse. And I think it just [is an] injustice. I can accept a loss, that’s fine. But please tell me why, why I lost the fight. Please, the three judges, tell me why you think I lost the fight. Tell me. Explain to me, please.
Just to know why, I want to sit with the judges and let them explain to me how they score a fight, the criteria. Explain it to me. Let me understand. If I understand this sport wrong, correct me, please. I believe I won the fight. Dana [White] believed I won the fight. All the fans believed I won the fight.”
Jingliang was supposed to fight Tony Ferguson, but when Khamzat failed to make weight ahead of his fight with Nate Diaz, Ferguson was moved to the Diaz fight, and Khamzat took D-Rod’s opponent, Kevin Holland. That left Li Jingliang with Daniel Rodriguez, an entirely different fighter from Tony Ferguson.
“I made weight. Tony made weight. Why don’t [they] let us fight? It’s not our fault. So why? Tony fought Nate as the main event — why don’t they let me fight Nate? It’s unfair. I cannot accept that.
The only option I have at that time [was Rodriguez]. I did everything I should do. I made weight and was ready for the fight. But they missed weight, they fought backstage. So why did they [make] me take this responsibility and change my opponent? I don’t think it’s fair.
Do you think Li Jingliang was treated unfairly? Let us know in the comments.
