Li “The Leech” Jingliang saw the chaos unfold backstage at UFC 279’s pre-fight press conference. On The MMA Hour, following his controversial decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez, Jingliang told his version of events. Jingliang pointed to Kevin Holland’s misreading of a simple greeting with Khamzat Chimaev as the root of the issue.
“We red corner were on [one] side [of the arena], so when we were waiting for the press conference, we made a line. So Holland is the first, I’m the second.
Jingliang’s First-Hand Account of “Complete Chaos” That Caused UFC 279 Press Conference Cancellation
And when Khamzat came in, in my eyes, he was trying to say hello to us, so he come up to me and then went to Kevin, and in my eyes he was trying to say hello to Kevin.
But I don’t know why, maybe Kevin felt he was a little bit aggressive, and then he just pushed him — Kevin pushed Khamzat. And then Khamzat just went backward and came back with that kick at Holland, and so then they threw punches and kicks to each other.
So everybody was shocked. And then I just grabbed Khamzat, I held Khamzat and I separated them and I told Khamzat, ‘Not today. Not today, bro. Not today.’ So it’s complete chaos there. … Then everybody comes — the securities, even Dana [White]. We just separated these two, but they still [were getting into it with] each other.”
Jingliang thought things calmed down, but that was far from the end of proceedings. “Dana went on the stage and they changed the plan, so they let Kevin and ‘D-Rod’ get onto the stage first to separate everybody.
But while Kevin and ‘D-Rod’ were on the stage, we were waiting in the backstage, Nate came with his crew.
I can’t remember how many people, maybe 10 or more. And then he just [said] something to Khamzat, and then I saw a water bottle thrown by Nate to Khamzat.”
Li Jingliang, who was scheduled to face Tony Ferguson, endured a shuffled card, a cancelled press conference, and a loss that he feels was a “robbery”. Perhaps worst of all, he had a suit tailored for the press conference, and Jingliang didn’t get to wear it in front of the cameras.
“We only fight two or three times every year, and this I think was one of the biggest events in my career. So of course I wanted to show my best to everybody. And that’s why I wore the suit.”
What would you have done backstage at UFC 279? Let us know in the comments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRDq2xx9erk
