5 Things You Might Not Know about Lipeng Zhang

Lipeng Zhang decided to jump into the deep end of the One Championship pool.

The 31-year-old Chinese standout will make his promotional debut when he challenges two-time lightweight titleholder Eduard Folayang in the One Championship “Battleground 2” main event on Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Zhang owns a 5-1-1 record across his past seven outings. However, he has not competed since he submitted Mohammad Naeemi at Kunlun Fight 83 nearly two years ago.

As Zhang pores over the remaining details associated with his forthcoming battle with Folayang, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. He took the baptism-by-fire route.

Zhang made his professional mixed martial arts debut at the age of 19 on April 18, 2009 under the United Martial Arts Combat banner in Beijing. He went 2-1 in three assignments as a teenager, his victories over Arthit Hanchana and Yao Qiang offset by a submission defeat to Claes Beverlov.

2. Adversity shaped him.

Nothing about the start of Zhang’s career indicated he would be anything more than a gatekeeper or journeyman in MMA. In fact, his record stood at a pedestrian 9-9-1 (.500) after his first 19 appearances. However, Zhang has gone an eye-popping 21-2-1 with 17 finishes since, surfacing as a person of interest in his early 30s.

3. He has big-league experience.

Zhang won “The Ultimate Fighter China” reality series in 2014 and earned his ticket to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as he defeated Qingxiang Zhu in the quarterfinals and eliminated Albert Cheng in the semifinals before earning a split decision over Sai Wang in the welterweight final. The Fighting Empire representative went 2-2 inside the Octagon, only to be released by the organization following back-to-back decision losses to Chris Wade and Kajan Johnson.

4. His performance on the regional circuit bred confidence.

“The Warrior” was a two-division champion in the Kunlun Fight organization. He laid claim to the company’s lightweight crown with a unanimous decision over Beibit Nazarov on Jan. 23, 2016 and captured the welterweight title with a first-round technical knockout of Leandro Rodrigues Pontes on Jan. 2, 2017.

5. Diverse offense carries his freight.

Zhang has delivered 22 of his 30 career wins (73.3%) by knockout, technical knockout or submission, 16 of them inside one round. He owns a 7-5-2 record in bouts that have gone the distance.