PERTH, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's biggest mixed martial arts star Li Jingliang is on the eve of the biggest fight of his career on Friday, as he prepares to take on highly touted Welterweight prospect Jake Matthews in front of his home fans at the first-ever UFC event held in Western Australia.
Expected to break Perth Arena attendance records, the fight card will also draw millions of eyes around the world and feature an interim middleweight title bout between former champion Luke Rockhold and Olympic freestyle wrestling medalist Yoel Romero.
"It is an honor to be part of this event and represent China," Li told Xinhua.
"I have a huge number of fans that support me in China and there are many Chinese fans living in Australian that support me as well, so I don't feel as though I'm just an individual," he added.
Having amassed a total of 14 wins and four losses, the native of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is often referred to by fans as 'The Leech' due to his relentless grappling style and ability to stick to his opponents.
"People from China's Xinjiang like to wrestle and compete in sports!" Li explained.
"There is also a lot of boxing as well, people in my city (Tacheng) really like to do those things and I also learned wrestling there."
But staying true to the philosophy of the sport, the 29 year old has also demonstrated a fearsome arsenal of striking techniques, winning three of his last four fights via way of knockout.
Using the Chinese style of kickboxing, Wushu Sanshou, The Leech said he learned the martial art growing up and believes it "definitely has some advantages" over more conventional striking styles seen in the UFC.
As the birthplace of martial arts, Li feels it's only a matter of time before China emerges as a global leader in the sport.
"I think in the future there will be more Chinese people join the sport and I think China will win lots of championships," he said.
"For me, I have 100 percent confidence for this match Sunday and I hope I can win," he concluded.
