Aoriqileng is staying at bantamweight for the foreseeable future.
China’s Aoriqileng picked up his first UFC win last month at UFC Vegas 52, when he finished Cameron Else in less than two minutes with a body shot followed by ground and pound. “The Mongolian Murderer” made his bantamweight debut in the UFC after fighting his first two bouts at flyweight. The fight marked his return to the division, where he fought most of his career outside of the UFC.
Aoriqileng regrets not making the return to bantamweight sooner.
“Yeah, in retrospect, I regret a lot that I didn’t choose to fight in the 135 division when I entered the UFC,” Aoriqileng told Cageside Press through his translator in an exclusive interview. “I know all MMA fighters have a dream of fighting in the UFC, and I was very fortunate to get a chance to get into UFC. I lost my first two to fights, and it makes me feel horrible.”
Picking up his first UFC win in his correct division, he plans to stay at bantamweight. Oh, and his weight cut was much better this time around.
“The weight cutting process was much much better than when I fought in 125 pounds because before I entered UFC, I fought in 135 division all the time. I just felt familiar with the weight cutting into dehydration, and so I feel great. I was very familiar with this weight cutting process,” Aoriqileng said.
Another big change for the 28-year old was his fight camp. He trained in Arizona at Fight Ready under coach Eddie Cha. He plans to stay with Cha and his teammate Alateng Heili.
“The experience of training at Fight Ready was great; it’s perfect. My friends introduced me to this team. And since I started training there, we have a lot of other UFC fighters who are also training there. So, every day, every training session as we drill together, spar together, and share our knowledge and the technique with each other. All of these things help me a lot and help me to make a huge improvement. All the coaches and all the athletes treat me very nice and take care of me,” Aoriqileng said.
As for what is next, Aoriqileng is staying in the United States and waiting for his next opponent.
Watch the rest of our interview with Aoriqileng above.
