36-year-old Li Jingliang will be in action this weekend in Down Under for another challenging outing against Carlos Prates, who’s undefeated in Dana White‘s promotion. With a lot at stake for the Chinese star, we’ll take a look at all the occasions when he’s bitten the dust from his opponents before we get to UFC 305 at the 15,000+ RAC Arena in Perth.

‘The Leech’ has competed in almost 30 fights after turning pro in 2007. It’s been a long time for the veteran, with 17 years of experience. Well, guess what? That amount of experience hasn’t come in handy for Li Jingliang to avoid being on the losing side in the UFC, and his stint in promotion has produced mixed results.

Khamzat Chimaev, Daniel Rodriguez, and more UFC losses for Li Jingliang

Li Jingliang has struggled to find his footing in the welterweight division to a certain extent. There are some killers in this particular weight class, but the Chinese star’s first UFC loss came against an opponent whose career went a bit below the radar during his time in the promotion. Nordine Taleb, 43, used to compete under the UFC banner from 2014 to 2019, having jumped ship from Bellator.

Nordine Taleb’s UFC career was flying in the beginning, racking up three wins on the trot after his debut, including a win over Li Jingliang. It was a close call for the 36-year-old, who recorded a split decision loss. ‘The Leech’s second UFC loss also came against a fighter, who bid adieu to the promotion a long time ago. Keita Nakamura, who’s in Japan, fighting under the Rizin banner, had two short stints in the UFC. He fought Li Jingliang when the UFC went to Japan for a Fight Night event in 2015.

Nakamura walked out of the event by successfully putting smiles on the faces of his hometown crowd, earning a technical submission win over ‘The Leech’. Thereafter, Jingliang would maintain a winning consistency, amassing four wins on the trot. But then, a third former UFC fighter, Jake Matthews, would outscore him to grab an all-important unanimous. It’s only then that the Chinese star lost to someone who’s still a part of the UFC roster, starting with Neil Magny.

Often called the gatekeeper of the welterweight division, Neil Magny fought Li Jingliang just weeks before the world shut down during the pandemic in 2020. He edged past the Chinese welterweight veteran via decision, following which Jingliang registered another technical submission loss to the now-middleweight star, Khamzat Chimaev.

Following that was ‘The Leech’s recent loss against Daniel Rodriguez, and just like his first loss, this was a close split-decision loss. But these aren’t his only MMA losses. Few of them occurred before his advent in the UFC.

Has ‘The Leech’ lost outside the UFC?

Li Jingliang has just a couple of blemishes in his record before the UFC. He lost both of those fights in the promotion where he was a former welterweight champion, Legend Fighting Championship. Jingliang’s first fight under that promotion ended up with a loss. His opponent, Pat Crawley, handed him a unanimous decision loss in the city of Hong Kong in 2010.

The second and only loss outside of UFC for Li Jingliang took place when he competed for the world title for the first time. Yet again, a decision loss came to haunt ‘The Leech’ as his opponent Myung Ho Bae disputed the Chinese star to capture the welterweight title in 2012. After capturing the title himself in 2013, Jingliang jumped ship into the UFC, making his debut at UFC 173.

UFC 305 has a lot on the line for Li Jingliang. Will he be able to beat Carlos Prates, who’s riding high with momentum? Let us know in the comments below.