Li Jingliang

Overview

Eight of Li Jingliang's eleven UFC wins ended in a knockout or TKO, and none of them came by submission or the judges' scorecards in a finish. Four of those stoppages came in the first round. Li, a Welterweight from Xinjiang, China, who fights out of China Top Team Beijing, is 11-7 in the UFC and carries a two-fight losing streak into his next bout.

He wins by hurting people, not by outpointing them. Only three of his eleven wins went to the scorecards.

UFC Career

Li debuted at UFC 173 in May 2014 with a split-decision win over David Michaud, then dropped a split decision to Nordine Taleb that October. He opened 2015 the right way, stopping Dhiego Lima in the first round, but a third-round submission loss to Keita Nakamura followed.

The real run started in July 2016. Anton Zafir, Bobby Nash, Frank Camacho and Zak Ottow all fell in succession, three by TKO and one by decision. Four straight wins is still his longest streak. A unanimous decision loss to Jake Matthews ended it.

He then won three of four. Daichi Abe went the distance, while David Zawada and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos were both stopped in round three. The one loss in that stretch was a decision to Neil Magny. In January 2021 he stopped Santiago Ponzinibbio, the one win over an opponent our model rates as elite, in round one.

What followed was mixed. Khamzat Chimaev submitted him in the first round at UFC 267. Muslim Salikhov was stopped in round two, but Daniel Rodriguez took a split decision at UFC 279. His latest fight, at UFC 305, ended in a second-round TKO loss to Carlos Prates.

Seven losses, but only one by knockout.

Fighting Style

Li is a busy striker who is hard to hit. He lands more than most UFC fighters and defends well on the feet, while the punishment he takes and his accuracy are about what you would expect from the UFC average. He is also tough to take down, and he rarely shoots for takedowns himself. Submission hunting is not part of his game.

His finish pattern fits that profile. All eight of his UFC stoppages came by strikes: four in round one, two in round two, and two in round three. He has no UFC submission wins.

On the losing side, two of his seven UFC defeats came by submission, one by TKO, and four went to the judges.

Notable Wins

• Santiago Ponzinibbio — KO/TKO, round 1, UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs. Kattar (2021)
• Muslim Salikhov — KO/TKO, round 2, UFC Fight Night: Ortega vs. Rodriguez (2022)
• Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos — KO/TKO, round 3, UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Zhang (2019)

Quick Facts

• Division: Welterweight
• UFC record: 11-7 (8 KO/TKO wins, 3 decision wins)
• Professional record (all promotions): 19-9-0
• UFC debut: May 2014
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height / reach: 6'0" / 71.5"
• Team: China Top Team Beijing
• Born: Xinjiang, China