Li Jingliang

Li Jingliang (Chinese: 李景亮; born March 20, 1988) is a Chinese mixed martial artist who competes as a Welterweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, Li mostly fought in China.

Background

Originally from a small town in the Xinjiang Province of Northwest China, Li competed in wrestling and trained in Sanda before moving to Beijing in order to pursue a career in professional mixed martial arts. Li began training under the tutelage of current UFC Lightweight Zhang Tiequan.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Li made his professional debut in 2007, winning via submission due to punches in the second round. He would go on to compile a record of 8-2, capturing the Legend FC Welterweight Championship in the process, before being granted his release and signed by the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Li made his promotional debut on May 24, 2014 at UFC 173 against David Michaud. Li won via split decision.

Li faced Nordine Taleb on October 4, 2014 at UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine. Li was able to take Taleb down multiple times throughout the fight and even successfully land significantly more strikes as Taleb was content to counter strike throughout the bout. In a surprising result, Taleb was given the victory by split decision.