Newcomer Jingliang Li meets Danny Mitchell at UFC 173 in Las Vegas
China meets England in the latest fight booking for the UFC’s Memorial Day weekend card.
Promotional newcomer Jingliang Li (8-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will meet Danny Mitchell (14-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a welterweight bout this May. UFC officials announced the new matchup on Wednesday for UFC 173.
UFC 173 takes place May 24 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman meets Lyoto Machida in the main event.
Li, a training partner of UFC vet Tiequan Zhang at China Top Team, joins the promotion on a two-fight winning streak with five wins in his past six bouts. “The Leech†has five of his eight career wins by submission.
Mitchell – “The Cheesecake Assassin†– made his UFC debut earlier this month in his home country of England, but dropped a unanimous decision to Igor Araujo at UFC Fight Night 37 in London. That snapped a streak of five wins in six fights for him, a run which saw its lone loss come at the hands of UFC veteran and “Ultimate Fighter†winner Kendall Grove.
With the addition, UFC 173 now includes:
Champ Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida – for middleweight title
Junior dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic
Chris Holdsworth vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Doo Ho Choi vs. Sam Sicilia
James Krause vs. Jamie Varner
T.J. Dillashaw vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Anthony Njokuani vs. Vinc Pichel
Mitch Clarke vs. Al Iaquinta
Michael Chiesa vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Tony Ferguson vs. Katsunori Kikuno
Yves Edwards vs. Piotr Hallmann
Jingliang Li vs. Danny Mitchell
