Report: Chimaev Draws ‘Leech’ For UFC 267

Rockhold is out, Jingliang is in.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) reportedly has verbal agreements for a 170-pound showdown at the UFC 267 pay-per-view (PPV) event this October in Abu Dhabi, pitting welterweight hype machine Khamzat Chimaev opposite division “Leech” Li Jingliang.

That’s according to Combate.

Chimaev (9-0) burst onto the scene last July and quickly racked up three straight wins with all three bouts ending by way of knockout or submission. That was enough for promotion president Dana White to anoint “Borz” the uncrowned champion; however, COVID-19 had other ideas.

As for Jingliang (18-6), he scored what is arguably the biggest win of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career by planishing Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC on ABC last January. The 33 year-old “Leech” has now won eight of his last 10 and sits at No. 12 in the promotion’s official welterweight rankings.

UFC 267 is expected to be headlined by the light heavyweight title fight between champion Jan Blachowicz and challenger Glover Teixeira. Elsewhere on the card, Virna Jandiroba and Amanda Ribas collide at 115 pounds.

Stay tuned for more UFC 267 fight card updates in the coming weeks.