Daniel Rodriguez

Jingliand (19-7 MMA) most recently competed back at July's UFC event in New York, where he scored a second round TKO victory over Muslim Salikhov. That win got ...

Li with a low kick. Rodriguez with a jab and then a low kick. Rodriguez with a jab to the body. Jingliang returns fire with a hard low kick. Rodriguez with a shot to the body. Li with a left hook. A hard low kick from Li sends Rodriguez to the floor. Li with two big hooks and then a hard kick. Body kick from Li and then a 1-2. A good body kick now from Li Jingliang. A hard body kick lands for Rodriguez, Li returns it. A jab and low kick in response from Rodriguez.

Rodriguez (16-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) entered fight week preparing for a catchweight contest against Kevin Holland, whereas his replacement, Li Jingliang anticipated a ...

Click here to find out more about our partners. Find out more about how we use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. You can select 'Manage settings' for more information and to manage your choices.

Daniel Rodriguez took a split decision over Jingliang Li on the UFC 279 PPV main card.

Li stayed with his kicking attack in the final frame, still attacking the body and the legs alike. Li threw a ton of kicks to score, and used a lot of footwork and head movement to avoid the big blows of Rodriguez, but it wasn’t enough in the eyes of two of the three judges. It was back to the kicks for Li, but Rodriguez decided to start attacking the legs as well.

Daniel Rodriguez defeated Li Jingliang via split decision, at UFC 279 on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, live from T-Mobile Arena In Las Vegas, NV.

Jingliang landed a trio of punches and continued to find success with his striking in the early minutes of the round. Rodriguez landed a strong counter and started pushing forward again, continuing to find success with his jab. Rodriguez landed a head kick but Jingliang caught the leg on the way down and dumped him to the ground right before the horn. The two fighters continued to trade kicks and punches throughout the round. Rodriguez landed a punch but immediately, Jingliang landed two left hands that changed the momentum. Jingliang was originally supposed to fight Tony Ferguson in a welterweight fight.

It wasn't the firefight that was expected on short notice, but Daniel Rodriguez got the job done against Li Jingliang at UFC 279.

But Daniel was not to be deterred as he got right back at it, landing a big head kick semi-cleanly at the end of the round which the Leech ate and used to dump D-Rod to his back as the buzzer sounded. In his post-fight interview, D-Rod initially said he did not feel like he did enough to win but went on to say that he thought he could have stolen it in the final round. Rodriguez opened the third round with forward pressure as his opponent was back in his orthodox stance. D-Rod got back to his jabbing and kicking ways early on as Jingliang started to load up a bit and overextend with his right hand, though it landed to the body and upstairs at times. Early in round two, the Leech began taunting a bit, dropping his hands, crouching down, and wiggling his body as he backed up in a little dance. Soon afterward, a caught kick from the Leech led to him dumping Daniel.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- China's Li Jingliang was edged out by a close split decision in a catchweight bout against Daniel Rodriguez at UFC 279 in ...

"There's a saying that the harder your fist is, the wider your roads are. This is a first to me," said Rodriguez in his post-fight interview. "I'm here to fight, no matter who the opponent is.

On the main card of UFC 279, we saw a banger in the welterweight division. Top contenders battled it out as Li Jingliang (19-7) took on Daniel Rodriguez.

Jab to the body for Rodriguez and Li throws a right hand back. Rodriguez lands a body kick and Li lands a low kick. Left hand for Li lands and Rodriguez lands a crisp jab. Jab from Rodriguez and Li pushes forward with a combination. Lots of pressure from Rodriguez with little activity from Li here in the final minute. Round comes to a close and Li had big moments, but Rodriguez was more consistent throughout. Low kick from Li and Rodriguez comes back with a combination. Inside leg kick and a jab lands for Rodriguez. Nice left hand lands for Rodriguez and Li counters with a body kick. Right to the body for Li and a couple of jabs from Rodriguez. Another really solid body kick lands for Li and he follows it with a low kick. Lots of pressure here from Li who lands a nice combination.

LAS VEGAS – Daniel Rodriguez feels like the rightful winner, despite some online saying he's not. The UFC welterweight defeated Li Jingliang in a split ...

Click here to find out more about our partners. Find out more about how we use your information in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. You can select 'Manage settings' for more information and to manage your choices.

With all the theatrics during fight week and the sudden change of opponents, Rodriguez essentially came in blind with no game plan for Li Jingliang.

“When he did I was happy he accepted the fight. I did what I had to do to win the fight”, Rodriguez told the media. “I wasn’t sure he was going to take the fight considering that I did weigh in nine pounds heavier than him,” he said.

LAS VEGAS – Daniel Rodriguez feels like the rightful winner, despite some online saying he's not. The UFC welterweight defeated Li Jingliang in a split ...

“I wasn’t sure if he was going to take the fight considering that I did weigh in nine pounds heavier than him,” Rodriguez said. And yeah, I did what I had to do to win the fight.” “I mean, I’ve been looking for a fight. The bout between Rodriguez and Jingliang came together last minute, along with a couple other matchups on the card. It was a competitive bout, but some people criticized the scoring of the fight – including UFC president Dana White. “I thought I did more in the later rounds and I picked up the pace a little bit more.