China’s Li Jingliang will have an opportunity to fight his way into the UFC rankings when he takes on streaking #14-ranked welterweight Elizeu Zaleski at UFC Shenzhen, as originaly reported by Combate. This will be the second attempt at bringing the two together in the Octagon. They were originally booked to fight last fall at UFC Beijing, but Zaleski pulled out of the bout due to an injury.
With Zaleski unavailable, Jingliang took his frustrations out on David Zawada by way of third-round TKO. That made two consecutive wins for Jingliang, and an impressive six of his last seven. Zaleski will pose the toughest challenge for Jingliang thus far in terms of wins and rankings. Come August 31, we’ll see how The Leech grades on the test.
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos earned his spot in the rankings by pulling together an extensive seven-fight winning streak. Zaleski’s last three bouts ended before the final bell, with two spectacular knockouts followed by a rear-naked choke submission in his most recent bout against Curtis Millender. Zaleski will look to make it an eight straight at UFC Shenzhen, which would nudge him closer to the welterweight title picture conversation.
UFC Shenzhen will be headlined by Jessica Andrade defending her strawweight championship against Weili Zhang. The event takes place August 31, 2019 from the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre.
Who do you predict to win this welterweight bout? Elizeu Zaleski or Li Jingliang?
