Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight scrappers Li Jingliang and Daichi Abe threw down last night (June 23, 2018) at UFC Fight Night 132 from inside Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.
Singapore is a bit over 2000 miles away from mainland China, but that’s close enough for the UFC to book their premiere Chinese athlete for a showcase fight. Jingliang actually built up a solid win streak previous to his most recent defeat, a disappointing result that caused this step back in competition. On the other hand, Abe is a relative newcomer to the Octagon but has competed in a fun pair of kickboxing battles. The Judo black belt was down to trade, and that’s exactly why he received this opportunity.
The fighters opened with a lot of low kicks, with “The Leech” pressuring and landing more often. Abe moved well though, looking to land kicks off the switch cross, TJ Dillashaw-style.
Despite the high activity of kicks, neither man could really find his range with punches in the opening few minutes. At about the three minute mark, however, Jingliang landed a powerful right hand that stunned Abe, and he followed it up with some more hard shots. Abe returned the favor with a clean counter right hand moments later, resulting in more successful offense from both men.
Jingliang was ahead after five minutes, but the fight was very much up for grabs.
Jingliang continued his offense of inside low kicks and right hands into the second. The low kicks were beginning to have an effect, as Abe was less willing to engage despite seeming to have plenty left in the gas tank. Meanwhile, “Leech” took every opportunity given to punt the leg and add to the damage. In addition, Jingliang did a nice job of following up low kicks with punches after knocking his foe out of stance.
Abe tried to check and evade the low kicks, but it’s difficult to counter punch without planting the lead leg. By the end of the round, Abe was positively out-matched, as Jingliang stunned his foe with more right hands and a nice snap kick up the middle.
Things were desperate in the Abe corner.
No advice between rounds changed much about Jingliang’s onslaught. The Chinese athlete continued to club his opponent around with power punches and blast him out of position with low kicks. No one can doubt Abe’s toughness — the Japanese Judoka ate a ton of ridiculously hard shots — but he was no longer able to fight effectively. He threw some high kicks and tried to counter punch, but it was clear which fighter was doing all the damage.
“The Leech” scored a clear decision victory.
After his ugly loss to Jake Matthews, Jingliang needed this performance. Jingliang is known for his aggression, power punching, and conditioning; all factors that were present in this bout. However, he’s also known for getting blasted as he punches his way forward, and in that regard, Jingliang showed a lot of improvement.
Speaking on improvement, it’s impressive to see how far Jingliang has come inside the Octagon. There were plenty of chances for Jingliang to drop down into a takedown — once his bread-and-butter strategy — but Jingliang was confident enough to keep hunting for the knockout.
It didn’t come, but a violent beating is a successful result nevertheless.
As for Abe, this is twice in a row where he’s largely been picked apart for three rounds. He’s obviously very tough and has some nice timing on his counters, but Abe still has a lot to learn on the feet. He’s working on his stance-switching, which is great, but it would be nice to see Abe rely on his Judo background a bit more until he’s really figured his approach out.
Hopefully, the pain of a few dozen low kicks will incentivize him to use all parts of his attack.
Last night, Li Jingliang worked his opponent over to return to the win column. Who should Jingliang face next?
For complete UFC Fight Night 132 “Cerrone Vs. Edwards” results and play-by-play, click HERE!