The UFC has added another great matchup to their upcoming April PPV. Earlier this afternoon, top welterweight contender Michael Chiesa (16-6) announced that he would be taking on “The Leech” Li Jingliang (19-8).
The matchup will take place on April 8th at UFC 287. For Jingliang, he’s going to be looking to bounce back after a tough loss to Daniel Rodriguez. Originally, Li was supposed to face off against Tony Ferguson at UFC 279. However, everything that happened resulted in him fighting Daniel Rodriguez who was contracted to fight at a catchweight 10 pounds heavier than Li.
Nevertheless, Li took the fight and won in my peoples’ eyes. However, two judges gave the fight to Rodriguez and the loss to Li. Overall, he’s 2-2 in his last four which includes knockouts over Santiago Ponzinibbio and Muslim Salikhov.
UFC 287
Michael Chiesa took all of 2022 off and will be finally returning to the octagon in a couple of months. Last time we saw Chiesa was at a Fight Night against Sean Brady. Chiesa lost a unanimous decision to Brady which was his second straight loss.
Prior to that, he had lost by first round submission to Vicente Luque. Those two losses came on the heels of a four-fight winning streak to start his career in the welterweight division. Chiesa has reset and now he’s ready to take on ranked competition once again at UFC 287.