At the rate things are going for the native of Nei Mongol, China, he may soon find himself in a position where younger fighters are looking up to him and trying to follow in his footsteps. Owner of a 16-8-2 record, Alatengheili didn’t hit his stride until he signed on the dotted line to compete in the UFC, where he is currently 4-1-1 in one of the promotion’s toughest divisions. And even more accurately, things really started to accelerate when he began training in Arizona with the Fight Ready squad a little over a year ago.
“This team has been helping me since the first day I arrived in the U.S.,” he said of his move to work with the team. “I get along with them really well and I adapted to the training and the team. This is the main reason I came here. For me, living in the U.S., the teammates are better and they help me with all the aspects of the sport and all my skills.”
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In 2022, Alatengheili has won twice, first knocking out Kevin Croom in less than a minute before defeating Anheliger. It’s proof that everything is working for him, even though it was hard to leave home.
“My family are very supportive of my career and my success,” he said. “For me, the biggest obstacle is that I miss my family, and it’s going to be a long time to see my family. But for this last fight, my brother came all the way to the U.S. to support me from China and I feel very, very grateful.”