What he did not have was a translator on hand for his post-fight interviews. Instead, Fight Ready’s Eddie Cha (Korean, not Chinese) did his best, putting aside his role as coach to help translate, with a little assist from Google.

Regarding his performance, Aoriqileng (26-12, 1NC) was pleased. “I was very happy with the win. This time I decided a new tactic with my team,” noted “The Mongolian Murderer,” who added that it was his second time in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

His first trip to the Canadian city saw him suffer defeat against Aiemann Zahabi, back at UFC 289 in 2023. A much better result this time around (earning a Performance of the Night bonus), obviously, one that saw him bounce back from a loss to Raul Rosas Jr. at Noche UFC in 2024.

That’s a bit of a layoff, obviously. 13 months. “A minor injury” had forced Aoriqileng to sit on the sidelines for the better part of the year, with the bantamweight unable to train for a time, but he’s “back in the game,” he noted on Saturday.

After all that time away, Aoriqileng is now ready to fight “anyone, any time,” and “hopes to get in there pretty quick,” he finished.

Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Aoriqileng above.

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A lackluster four-round affair between Reinier de Ridder and Brendan Allen did end in a stoppage, mainly when former ONE Championship double-champ RDR was unable to continue prior to round five. That TKO didn’t do much to buoy fans’ spirits after a grappling-heavy affair that, after the opening frame, seemed to feature more stalling than submission attempts or improving position.

The biggest winner on the night might have been Nassourdine Imavov, who is now one step closer to a title shot against middleweight champ Khamzat Chimaev.

Bonus winners, however, included Kyle Prepolec, who remains winless in the UFC but still engaged in a war with Drew Dober. After a low blow halted the action in the third, Dober took advantage and stormed back into the fight, scoring a TKO shortly after the action resumed. Having had a point deducted, Dober might have been down to that point.

That showdown picked up Fight of the Night, while Prepolec’s fellow Canadian Charles Jourdain earned a Performance of the Night bonus for his submission of English bantamweight Davey Grant. Jourdain finished Grant off with a guillotine, after the bout was promoted to the main card late this week.

The final $50,000 U.S. post-fight bonus went to Aoriqileng, for a quick and violent knockout of Cody Gibson on the prelims.

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On Friday, the UFC’s Canadian social media presence confirmed the booking of Matt Frevola vs. Kyle Nelson, while also revealing a fight between Cody Gibson (21-11) and Aoriqileng (25-12, 1NC). The card is set for October 18, 2025 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Gibson, 37, won his way back into the UFC by going to the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 31, where he would eventually lose to Canadian “Multimate Fighter” Brad Katona. Gibson has gone 2-2 since his return, and will enter the Vancouver card off a loss against Da’Mon Blackshear.

The American went 1-3 with the company in his first stint with the UFC from 2014 to 2015. Gibson is no stranger to fighting on Canadian soil and picked up a victory over Chad Anheliger at UFC Edmonton in November 2024.

China’s Aoriqileng, known as “The Mongolian Murderer,” will also be looking to bounce back from a loss, against blue chip prospect Raul Rosas Jr.

Headlined by middleweights Reinier de Ridder and Anthony Hernandez, the UFC Vancouver card on October 18 features the following reported and announced match-ups:

• Reinier de Ridder vs. Anthony Hernandez
• Kevin Holland vs. Mike Malott
• Manon Fiorot vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
• Charles Jourdain vs. Davey Grant
• Bruno Gustavo da Silva vs. Park Hyun-sung
• Marlon Vera vs. Aiemann Zahabi
• Danny Barlow vs. Djorden Ribeiro dos Santos
• Kyle Prepolec vs. Drew Dober
• Azamat Bekoev vs. Yousri Belgaroui
• Stephanie Luciano vs. Ravena Oliveira
• Melissa Croden vs. Tainara Lisboa
• Matt Frevola vs. Kyle Nelson
• Cody Gibson vs. Aoriqileng

The post Cody Gibson vs. Aoriqileng Announced for UFC Vancouver appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I’m 19-years-old. This is my fifth fight in the UFC. I’m 4-1. More than anything I made history being the first fighter to ever get their hand raised inside of The Sphere,” Rosas Jr told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“I’m thankful for everything that I have at this age.”

Rosas Jr (10-1) came into the fight at less than 100% as he told reporters that he injured his right hand during camp.

“This camp I overcame a lot of adversity. A lot of injuries. My hand is messed up, my right hand, before the fight. I almost decided to pull out, but I couldn’t. It’s such a special event I want to make history,” he said.

“I wasn’t 100% in there. I’m not trying to put excuses. I’m saying that I’m grateful to God. He was able to help me get through this adversity and come with the win.”

With the win secured Rosas Jr says he wants to return once his injuries have healed.

“I do want to get back in there as soon as possible, but first I want to get my injuries solved because I hate pulling out of fights,” said Rosas Jr.

“Before even taking the next fight I want to make sure my hand is ok, my foot is ok, my whole body’s ok, and I can start camp for whoever is next.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Raul Rosas Jr above.

The post Raul Rosas Jr Fought Aoriqileng With Injured Hand, Foot appeared first on Cageside Press.

The much ballyhooed “Noche UFC” (brought to you, rather puzzlingly, by Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season) would either thrill or fail based on its overall production as well as its fights, but at the end of the day, it was the action that mattered — and Rosas had proven capable of brining just that.

Rosas opened the bantamweight fight with a couple of kicks, while simultaneously being warned for outstretched fingers. The 19-year old continued his kick-heavy attack, but neither man saw much success until the fight went to the ground about three minutes in, with Rosas on top. He deftly moved to side control, then mount; Aoriqileng tried to buck him off and scramble out, only to give up the back. Rosas got hooks in, and eventually a body lock, while Aoriqileng fought that hands.

Unfortunately for Raul Rosas Jr. he’d run out of time in round one. The first half of round two played out on the feet, with little of note landing.  That changed in the back half of the round, with Rosas getting his hands going, and Aoriqileng answering back, getting the crowd into the fight. The pair would go on to trade kicks to the body in a fight that increasingly looked like it would go the distance.

Rosas Jr. changed things up in the third care of an early takedown, inside of the opening minute. Aoriqileng scrambled to the fence, got himself up, and found himself slammed right back down. Rosas was quickly into side control, and later took control of the back with Aoriqileng on his knees. Speaking of knees, Rosas would land several to the body before Aoriqileng would scramble again, ending up on his back with Rosas in guard.

With Rosas keeping the pressure up on top, Aoriqileng would never make it off his back, with Raul Rosas Jr. cruising to a decision victory and improving to 4-1 under the UFC banner at the age of just 19.

Official Result: Raul Rosas Jr. def. Aoriqileng by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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In only Marcos’ second UFC fight he fought and beat Davey Grant, earning a signature win over a talented veteran. Though it may have been somewhat controversial, Marcos had impressed many. He took on Aoriqileng, ‘The Mongolian Murderer,’ who was 3-3 in the UFC and coming off a win against Johnny Munoz Jr. Though it was an exciting bout on paper and in the cage, the fact that it ended in a no-contest due to a groin strike was a stain on an otherwise good fight.

Early in the first round Aori ate a knee to the center of his head while ducking, the first massive shot of many which would land. A right hand from Daniel Marcos busted open the nose of the Mongolian soon after. The blood would only flow more and more as Marcos out-flowed him, slipping shots and countering effectively. He looked the part of the 15-0 prospect, for the most part. Aori was aggressive but he scarcely landed a shot, and what he did land was not clean, as Marcos’ guard and head movement allowed him to avoid the worst of those punches. Leg kicks from Marcos became a factor late in the round.

Daniel Marcos dropped Aori to a knee in the second round with a well-timed calf kick. Aoriqileng ate punches as he stood back up but his toughness kept him alive. His badly bruised face painted a bad visual and Marcos continued to win comfortably. Then fouls disrupted the fight. None of them were too serious, but after Aori poked Marcos’ eye, Marcos returned with an accidental groin strike. If that was not bad enough, Aori then hit Marcos with a groin strike in return. It really became unbelievable when Aori tried a flying knee right when Marcos threw a kick, which then struck Aori’s groin again. Referee Jason Herzog went out of his way to regain control of the situation, saying that although they were all clearly accidents, that points would begin to be deducted.

The fourth break for a foul lasted a lot longer as Aori kneeled down, he used up all five minutes of the allowed injury time. When the end of those five minutes came, Herzog gave Aoriqileng one chance to fight, but he could not and the fight was declared a no-contest.

It was an unfortunate result for everyone, though especially for Daniel Marcos as he was likely about to be up 20-18 going into the third round. The undefeated prospect recieved the first blemish on his record. Though he retained his ‘0,’ he openly cried after the bout result was finalized.

Offical Result: Daniel Marcos vs Aoriqileng ends in a No Contest (groin strike) Round 2, 3:28

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With identical records in the UFC at 2-3, this fight could be an important turning point in the careers of both Aoriqileng and Johnny Munoz Jr. The winner would have a healthy .500 record in a stacked division while the loser would have twice as many losses as wins, putting them in danger of having to fight outside the UFC in the near future.

The fight started with a slow feeling out process. The first big moment came when Munoz landed a right hand that staggered Aoriqileng. Instead of swarming with punches he followed up with a takedown that he completed against the fence. Munoz was unable to hold Aori down, but controlled him with a body lock when he stood up. Johnny then dragged Aoriqileng back down from the rear body-lock before getting both hooks in to fully take the back. Munoz worked to attack the rear-naked choke as Aori fought the hands. Aori scrambled out of the position in the closing seconds of the round and dropped down one big right hand right at the bell.

Aori came out and landed a right hand that made Munoz uncomfortable, who dropped down for a bad takedown attempt. Aoriqileng pressured forward even harder then and a messy takedown got him on top in the full guard of Munoz. Johnny tried to create angles to get an armbar from the bottom but Aoriqileng got out of the first attempt. Munoz stayed with it though and he got another, better attempt, but Aori once again stayed heavy on top and escaped. Aori stood up then went right back in to drop a hammerfist before standing up again. The referee stood Munoz up after that but he ate a right hand from Aoriqileng that hurt him momentarily. The last minute of the round was mostly spent in the clinch with Aori on the outside.

The final round started with the bout likely tied 19-19. The start of the round saw Aori land a good right hand, after which Munoz failed a takedown attempt and got stuck in the clinch. Two minutes into the round Munoz hit the mat when Aoriqileng landed another good right hand, but he let him up. Munoz was falling over himself trying to get the fight to the mat. He failed his takedowns and halfway through the round Aori got on top in full guard. Munoz tried to invert on a leg lock and he successfully entangled their legs but the position stalled with him not near a submission. Aori found room to hammerfist the side of his head from the awkward position. Eventually they scrambled out and got stuck in the clinch. Munoz failed one last throw right at the bell.

When the judges read the scorecards it was Aoriqileng who got the nod from the judges by unanimous decision, with each judge scoring it 29-28, presumably giving Aori the final two rounds.

Official Result: Aoriqileng def. Johnny Munoz Jr. by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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“I’m not really like that type of guy. I’m not going to pretend to be Conor McGregor or anything, but I’m going to do what I have to do in the gym, prepare, and the fights will come,” Zahabi told Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“I’m not worried about any of that.”

Zahabi (10-2) stopped Aoriqileng by knockout in the first round of their fight in Vancouver which clearly sent a message to the rest of the bantamweight division that he’s a someone to deal with.

“For me I think it’s the best (the UFC bantamweight division). The most entertaining because it’s like you’re swimming with sharks. Everyone’s a shark, everyone’s good, the whole roster is dangerous,” Zahabi said.

“They can all finish you in their own way, and they all have great expertise. I think that’s why people love the bantamweight division, and we can take a punch. We ain’t that heavy so we throw a lot.”

A big storyline of UFC 289 were the Canadians going 6-0 on the night with Zahabi, Diana Belbita, Kyle Nelson, Jasmine Jasudavicius, Marc-Andre Barriault, and Mike Malott all walking away victorious in their native country. Seems like every time Canadians do well in the UFC more and more people begin to train.

“I think we’re going to be on a hot streak man that’s great. I’m so happy for Canada. The sport needs to grow even more here. When Canadians do good on UFC cards like this in our country it’s amazing,” he said.

“Hopefully it pushes people to do more shows and get more into the sport.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Aiemann Zahabi above.

The post Aiemann Zahabi Not One To Call People Out, Happy For Canadian MMA appeared first on Cageside Press.

Opposite Zahabi for this homecoming was Mongolian Aoriqileng; both fighters entered the night on modest two-fight win streaks.

Aoriqileng began the fight on the front foot, landing a few heavy calf kicks straight away. Zahabi looked to make his way back into the center of the Octagon to try and impose some dominance of his own. The Mongolian once again looked to land a calf kick as he was slightly moving backwards, but this time it was caught by the Canadian. Zahabi caught the calf kick attempt and attempted to return a huge overhand right, narrowly missing the raised chin of Aoriqileng. Despite missing the heavy overhand, he landed a huge left hook on the end of it, starching the Mongolian with one huge punch.

In his post fight interview, the hometown fighter started the ‘ole’ chant, getting the Canadians onto their feet after the huge knockout. Zahabi admitted he didn’t think Aoriqileng would come in with a leg-kick heavy gameplan, he said: “I expected him to hang back and throw his counter right hand.”

As well as that, the Quebec born fighter called for his fellow countryman to gift him a special timepiece to mark his huge knockout win.

“I would like to fight in the fall would be perfect for me, and if Drake is listening, a nice 41mm Rolex would be perfect too.”

Official Result: Aiemann Zahabi def. Aoriqileng by KO (1:04, Round 1)

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