Today, ONE Championship made two notable additions to their kickboxing and mixed martial arts ranks. As the Singapore based promotion signed top ranked Chinese kickboxer Qui Jianliang, and The Ultimate Fighter: China winner Zhang Lipeng.
ONE Championship signs Qui Jianliang and Zhang Lipeng
In a move that will further bolster an already growing roster of kickboxing talent, Jianliang, 31, brings a solid resume to ONE’s super featherweight division. The multi-time champion is currently in the midst of 17-fight win streak, and sits 68-kilograms’ top spot on Combat Press‘ monthly kickboxing rankings.
Both ONE Championship and the Ultimate Fighting Championship have made finding new Chinese stars a priority in recent years. As the richest and most populated nation on Earth, finding the next star to sell to Chinese massive viewing audience is an important strategy for both organizations long term success in the market. Former UFC flyweight champion Zhang Weili, and current ONE Championship atomweight queen Xiong Jing Nan, are examples of the world class talent the martial arts rich nation has. Jianliang hopes to join their exclusive titleholder club soon.
“I am excited to take my professional fighting career to the next level,” Jianliang said in a press release. “Right now, Xiong Jing Nan is the only Chinese ONE World Champion, but that will soon change. I want to make history as the first-ever male ONE World Champion from China.”
Back in 2014, welterweight veteran Lipeng got off to a fast start in his UFC career. He won the Chinese version of TUF in his promotional debut, then earned a second victory in the follow-up. However, his unbeaten momentum was quickly halted by consecutive defeats to Chris Wade and Kajan Johnson. And all of a sudden “The Warrior” was a former employee of the UFC.
Since his release from the Las Vegas based promotion, the 31-year-old native of Inner Mongolia has gone 22-2-1. Competing mostly for Chinese organization Kunlun Fight.
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