Jingliang Li might be coming off a loss but he remains one of the men to beat in the UFC’s stacked welterweight division. The #13 ranked Chinese fighter found his name on the lips of rising star Shavkat Rakhmonov this week.
The Kazakh welterweight, who recently entered the rankings at #15, took to Twitter to call for Jingliang to ‘get his balls together’:
Now I have a couple of fighters in my sights,one already refuses to fight me and the other claims that he is ready to fight anyone @UfcJingliang get your balls together and fight me @NeilMagny you said you were ready to fight anyone,lets do it if Lee still doesnt have the guts to
— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) March 30, 2022
English probably isn’t Rakhmonov’s first language but he appears to be implying that Jingliang doesn’t have the balls to fight him. The Chinese welterweight has been out of action since UFC 267 last October.
He took on the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev in Abu Dhabi. But Jingliang could not upset his opponent’s hype train and was submitted inside a round.
Having been on the UFC roster since 2014 he has had his ups and downs. But with ten wins from his 15 fights inside the octagon Jingliang is firmly established as a top welterweight even if he has never quite managed to get into title contention.
Rakhmonov boasts a perfect professional record of 15-0. He has won three fights out of three for the UFC with all those victories coming inside the opening two rounds.
The Kazakh doesn’t currently have a bout booked but with Jingliang ranked just two places about him at 17olbs it is a matchup that might make sense. The Chinese fighter doesn’t appear to have anything booked at the moment, his recent Instagram posts have shown him riding horses and playing with his kids.
But after six months away from the octagon Jingliang will surely be back soon. Meanwhile Rakhmonov is coming off a win over Carlston Harris at UFC Vegas 47 last month so these two welterweights could find themselves crossing paths sooner or later.
