Daniel Rodriguez calls for immediate rematch with Li Jingliang after controversial victory
Daniel Rodriguez has stated he is happy to run back his fight with Li Jingliang after he defeated ‘The Leech’ via a controversial split decision at UFC 279.
Both Daniel Rodriguez and Li Jingliang were heavily impacted by the chaos that enfolded the day prior to UFC 279. Khamzat Chimaev, who was scheduled to feature in the main event of UFC 279 against Nate Diaz, weighed in at 7.5lbs over the welterweight limit.
This forced the UFC to do some quick reshuffling. Diaz was rebooked to face off against Tony Ferguson, who had initially been scheduled to fight Jingliang. Chimaev was booked to fight Kevin Holland, Rodriguez’s original opponent.
This left Rodriguez and Jingliang to face each other, with their initial opponent now booked in the main and co-main events. This is despite the fact that Rodriguez had already weighed in at 180lbs catchweight, whilst Jingliang had hit the 170lb welterweight limit.
Despite the weight disparity, Daniel Rodriguez and Li Jingliang put on one of the most competitive bout of the evening. The fight was very close, and the stats later reflected this. However, when watching live, many believed that ‘The Leech’ had done enough to win. Two of the judges did not agree with the public opinion and handed Daniel Rodriguez a split decision victory.
To add insult to injury, ‘D-Rod’ would later knock Jingliang out of the rankings as he moved into the No.14 position.
Daniel Rodriguez offers to rematch Li Jingliang
After no doubt hearing the opinions of fans and fighters alike in regards to the result of the fight, Rodriguez took to Instagram to state that he was willing to immediatly run it back with ‘The Leech.’
“Everyone talking shit saying i lost !!! Let’s rematch !!! @lijingliangmma @danawhite @ufc.”
