Li Jingliang got the better of Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos tonight at UFC Fight Night 157, but left it until 9 seconds before the final bell to put a stamp on a strong performance with a TKO stoppage.
Round One:
Leg kick for Li. One in return from dos Santos. Leg kick for Li is checked. Hard body kick for EZS. He misses with a kick punch combo, but then goes for another kick and it’s caught by Li, who uses it to bring him to the mat. He gets right back up though.
Side kick to the body for EZS. Exchange in close and the Brazilian gets the better of it and lands a hook on the way out.
Clash of leg kicks. Side kick to the body again for EZS. Nice three-piece combo for Li as he presses forward.
Li has his opponent up against the cage momentarily, but nothing doing and they go back to striking range.
Huge straight right for Li puts EZS down, but he gets right back up and muscles Li over to the cage to clinch up in the final seconds of the round.
Round Two:
Again Li lands a solid right hand, but EZS takes it this time and stays upright. Straight right again for Li. Another exchange and this time he lands the straight punch down the pipe.
Clipping left hook for Li. leg kick for EZS. The Brazilian circling his man now in the center of the Octagon. Body kick for dos Santos.
Leg kick for EZS. Jab for him. Uppercut for EZS but then misses with a big overhand follow-up.
Three-piece punches series from Li, but only really the final punch landed cleanly. Nice one-two from li.
Glancing overhand right for EZS. Into the clinch and dos Santos lands a knee and Li connects with a glancing hook.
Jab for dos Santos. Head kick is blocked. Wheel kick for EZS misses. Li tees off with hooks but then EZS lands a hard counter punch.
Round Three:
EZS opens up the final round with punches and kicks. Right hand lands for Li. Jumping front kick from EZS is blocked.
Dos Santos tries for a takedown, but can’t pull it off. Jumping knee for dos Santos doesn’t connect but throws punches behind it without landing anything too meaningful.
Right hand for EZS. Solid right hand for Li. Jab for dos Santos. Body kick for EZS, but Li catches it and takes him down.
Dos Santos straight back up, but soon after he stumbles to the mat. He’s fine though and gets back up.
90 seconds to go. EZS struggling to track down Li who is still moving well at this stage in the fight. Missed punches and then lands a right hand.
Big uppercut for Li and dos Santos is wobbled and staggers backwards and falls to the mat. He gets back up under fire from more punches and then a left hook sends him back down again, leading to the TKO stoppage with only 9 seconds left in the fight!
