UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Li Jingliang suffered the same fate to Khamzat Chimaev as most opponents have, and he’s ready to rebound.
After scoring a signature knockout of Santiago Ponzinibbio in January 2021, Jingliang (18-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC) was quickly submitted by unbeaten star Chimaev (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) last October at UFC 267, where he wasn’t given much of an opportunity to get going.
Looking to get back in the win column, Jingliang meets Muslim Salikhov (18-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC on ABC 3 main card, which takes place at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. The main card airs on ABC and streams on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
“I think I gained a lot from that loss,” Jingliang told MMA Junkie and other reporters during UFC on ABC 3 media day on Wednesday. “I think I learned a lot. The experience of fighting from the Khamzat fight, I think I can learn more from my loss than the wins. So I lost five times in my UFC career. I think I learned more from those losses than from my victories in the UFC.”
He continued, “After the Khamzat fight, I spent more time with my family because I’m a dad of two lovely kids. So I spent more time with family and after the Chinese New Year, I came to the U.S. in April with my team and just focused on the training camp. I hope I can have two more fights this year to give more to my fans.”
Jingliang still rates Chimaev’s skills highly but thinks he has a bit more to prove before he’s championship ready.
“I acknowledge that he’s a very, very high-level fighter,” Jingliang said. “But if he’s as good as a champion, I think he still needs maybe one or two more fights to prove his championship level.”
He continued, “He’s a very smart fighter actually, and he has a very good game plan, so that is what we need to learn from him.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 3.
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