Last week was a momentous one for welterweight Li “The Leech” Jingliang, who became just the fourth Chinese fighter to enter the UFC rankings. Many feel it was long overdue. “Leech, he just made it into the top 15 and he’s very deserving. But he should have been in a while ago, in my opinion,” his manager, Audie Attar told the Post Fight Podcast. The man himself agrees. “I think so, I deserve to be in the rankings,” he told the Post in Macau, where he was watching Legend FC 14 at the MGM Cotai. But he’s not stopping there: “Every fighter, they want to get a championship, so I’m still working hard to get a title shot.” The 31-year-old is the veteran of Chinese MMA, who cut his teeth in Legend under its old guise before it was relaunched by chairman Matthew Kwok, and Paradigm Sports Management president Attar. He has been flying the red flag in the UFC and paved the way for a new generation of Chinese stars at the company’s Shanghai Performance Institute, where he is also benefiting from the world class training facilities of the state-of-the-art complex. UFC’s McGregor reignited – ‘get ready for the old Conor’ Next up is a fight against Neil Magny on March 7 at UFC 248, which is headlined by China’s first UFC champion Zhang Weili defending her title against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. “The next fight is the most important for me, and the opponent is now is No 14-ranked, I think I can win,” Li said. “I’m working so hard for this.” Attar agrees. “I think he’s [Li] coming into his own,” he told the Post. “He’s constantly developing athletically, he’s showing a new athlete every time he steps in there to compete, which is for me exciting. Legend FC 14 is in full swing. China Top Team’s red hot prospect Li Peng with massive win over Chen Jie. #LegendFC14 pic.twitter.com/YNxQksIm5p — Legend FC (@LegendFCMMA) December 28, 2019 “Having done this a long time, you can always see the different athletes that separate themselves, and the ones that plateau, and he’s not, he’s constantly just improving every time he steps in there. “So I’m excited for him. March 7 is another big challenge for him. But I think he goes in there and does what he has to do against Magny, and I think he’s gonna prove he’s a top 10 contender, and hopefully he’s fighting for a title in the near future. “The Leech” was mobbed by fans at the MGM Cotai after Saturday’s Legend 14 show, where he was on commentary during the main event, and cheering on his fellow China Top Team fighters from the front row for the rest of the show. “For Leech, I think he’s the one that’s put MMA on the map for China,” Attar said. “Now I understand, and all respect goes to Zhang Weili for being the first Chinese UFC champion, but you cannot take anything away from The Leech. “I think it goes to show how he was trending on the show where she won the belt, what type of impact he has on the sport as it relates to representing his country. “And he’s in the toughest division. The welterweight division in the UFC is arguably the toughest division. I would say the lightweight or welterweight divisions. You have so much depth, the greatest athletes from all around the world. So hats off to him and I’m excited where he’s going.” Legend FC chairman Mathew Kwok also paid tribute to his former star, who was around during the original run of Legend when it was a Hong Kong-based promotion. “Just from the standpoint of him as a Legend athlete, it’s amazing to see his growth and how much he’s changed,” Kwok said. “He was really good as he exited Legend. To see him go from that to what he is now, just the progress is really cool.”