Jingliang Li will be back in action on July 16th. The Chinese welterweight has been booked to face Muslim Salikhov at the as yet untitled event on July 16th.
Jingliang had hoped to fight Geoff Neal and will be looking to bounce back from his defeat to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 267. He was submitted by the undefeated Swedish star in the opening round.
These two will be very familiar to one another. Salikhov is from Russia but was based in China and fought there eight times before signing with the UFC.
Takedown off the rip for @KChimaev!
[ #UFC267 | Tune in LIVE on @ESPNPlus | @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/IGkdGAQXQf
— UFC (@ufc) October 30, 2021
Winning streak
Jingliang (18-7) is currently in the US and is training at Sanford MMA in Florida. He has been on the UFC roster since 2014 and is currently ranked at #13.
Salikhov (18-2) didn’t sign for the UFC until 2017. He was submitted in the first round by Alex Garcia in his first fight for the promotion.
Since then the kickboxer has embarked upon a five fight winning streak. It wasn’t enough to earn him a spot in the top 15 which might be due to inactivity, he has never managed more than two UFC fights in a calendar year.
Had us pressing replay ⏮
🇷🇺 Muslim Salikhov has the power to end it in seconds.
[ #UFCVegas28 | LIVE Saturday on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/5iU0zbuxan
— UFC (@ufc) June 3, 2021
Best of the rest
As previously announced Da Un Jung will also be on the card. The Korean light heavyweight will be facing Dustin Jacoby.
The 28 year old is undefeated since signing for the UFC in 2019 with four wins and a draw. But despite enjoying sustained success he remains unranked.
That will all chance if Jung wins his next fight because Jacoby is currently #15 in the middleweight rankings. The Glory veteran has won five and drawn one since signing for the UFC for a the second time in 2020.
In the main event #2 ranked Brian Ortega has been matched with #3 ranked Yair Rodriguez. The winner will be in pole position to take on either Max Holloway or Alex Volkanovski who fight for the featherweight title at UFC 276 in July.
UFC TBA, TBA, July 16th
Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez (Featherweight)
Jingliang Li vs. Muslim Salikhov (Welterweight)
Da Un Jung vs. Dustin Jacoby (Light Heavyweight)
Askar Askarov vs. Alex Perez (Flyweight)
Michelle Waterson vs. Amanda Lemos (Strawweight)
Herbert Burns vs. Khusein Askhabov (Bantamweight)
Jessica Penne vs. Brianna Fortino (Strawweight)
Punahele Soriano vs. Dalcha Lungiambula (Middleweight)
Ricky Simón vs. Jack Shore (Bantamweight)
Billy Quarantillo vs. Bill Algeo (Featherweight)
