Vancouver – Chinese bantamweight Aoriqileng had a big night at UFC Vancouver, securing a TKO finish over Cody Gibson 21 seconds into the opening round of the preliminary card fight.
What he didn’t have was a translator available for his post-fight interviews. Instead, Fight Ready’s Eddie Cha (Korean, not Chinese) did his best and put aside his role as coach to help translate, with a little help from Google.
Aoriqileng (26-12, 1NC) was satisfied with his performance. “I was very happy with the victory. This time I decided on a new tactic with my team,” noted “The Mongolian Murderer,” adding that it was his second time in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
On his first trip to the Canadian city, he suffered a defeat to Aiemann Zahabi at UFC 289 in 2023. A much better result this time (he earned a Performance of the Night bonus), obviously one that saw him bounce back after a loss to Raul Rosas Jr. at Noche UFC in 2024.
Obviously that’s a bit of a dismissal. 13 months. “A minor injury” had forced Aoriqileng to sit on the sidelines for most of the year, with the bantamweight unable to train for a while, but he is “back in the game,” he noted on Saturday.
After all this time, Aoriqileng is now ready to fight “anyone, at any time” and “hopes to get in there pretty soon,” he finished.
Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Aoriqileng above.
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