“The Leech” secured what is likely the biggest win of his UFC career against Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos with a late, third-round TKO.
The welterweights got after each other in their distinctive styles, with Jingliang eating shots to deliver bigger ones and dos Santos finding creative openings to rock his Chinese opponent. While they respected each other early, the fun really started once they opened up and started exchanging.
Jingliang found his range after dos Santos connected with some clean shots, and each time, fired back with a stronger or cleaner combination, including a round-stealing right hand toward the end of the first round. As the fight wore on, Jingliang dictated the pace and got the better of several exchanges. As dos Santos pressed the action to make up for what he believed was a deficit on the scorecards, Jingliang showed off impressive elusiveness and fight IQ to keep the Brazilian at bay. That is, however, until Jingliang uncorked a right uppercut that sent dos Santos stumbling toward the cage, and a flurry from Jingliang ended the fight before the final bell.
Zac Pacleb is a writer and producer for UFC.com. You can follow him on Twitter @ZacPacleb.
