Aoriqileng will be back in action at UFC 278. The Chinese bantamweight has been matched with Jay Perrin at the event which is set for August 20th but doesn’t currently have a venue.

Aoriqileng (23-11) is coming off the biggest win of his career. He stopped Cameron Else at UFC Vegas 52, his first victory inside the octagon and a performance that probably saved him from getting handed his walking papers by the promotion.

Losing streak

He lost his first two fights for the UFC by decision. But he did pick up a $50,000 performance bonus for his efforts in the three rounder with Jeff Molina at UFC 261.

Perrin (10-5) was beaten by decision on his UFC debut too. He secured a contract after impressing on Dana White’s Contender Series but has never won any of his fights for major promotions.

Mixed fortunes

The UFC signed several Chinese fighters in 2020 with the majority of them coming through the Performance Institute in Shanghai. They have enjoyed mixed fortunes and almost none of them got off to a good start.

Aoriqileng was one of four Chinese fighters to be beaten at UFC 261. Zhu Rong, who lost that night, was recently released by the promotion.

But Song Yadong has had success as has Mongolian Danaa Batgerel. Aoriqileng will be looking to prove he can be another Chinese success story by making it back to back UFC wins.

Title tilt

Another Chinese fighter on a disappointing run of results is Weili Zhang, she is coming off back to back losses to Rose Namajunas that cost her the UFC strawweight title. But the 32 year old will have the opportunity to turn things around when she faces Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 275 next month.

Also on that card is Liang Na who was one of the four Chinese fighters to lose at UFC 261. She has had to wait over a year to get a second chance and will be taking on Silvana Gómez Juárez in a strawweight fight.

The only other fight currently on the UFC 278 card is in the featherweight division. Sean Woodson (9-1) has been matched with Luis Saldaña (16-7) in a battle between two unranked Americans coming off wins.

UFC 278, TBA, August 20th
Sean Woodson vs. Luis Saldaña (Featherweight)
Aoriqileng vs. Jay Perrin (Bantamweight)