Liu Ce

Liu Ce is a Chinese professional Sanda kickboxer and MMA fighter, currently competing in the light heavyweight division of the UFC. He is the former K-1 Cruiserweight (−90kg) champion and the K-1 30th Anniversary Openweight Tournament winner.

Professional kickboxing career Liu started to focus on professional kickboxing full time in 2018. He lost his first two fights of the year on the Glory of Heroes promotion. He lost by decision to Marino Schouten on July 28, 2018 at Glory of Heroes 33: Shanghai. On October 12, 2018, Liu lost to Mikita Shostak by unanimous decision at Glory of Heroes 35: Meishan.

On August 9, 2023, it was announced that Liu Ce would be one of eight participants in the 30th Anniversary K-1 Openweight Grand Prix, which took place at K-1 World GP 2023: ReBOOT～K-1 ReBIRTH～ on September 10, 2023. Ce was booked to face Valentin Bordianu in the quarterfinals of the one-day tournament. He won the fight by a first-round knockout, as he was able to floor himn with a right hook midway through the opening round. Ce faced Glory veteran Ariel Machado in the semifinals and once again won by stoppage, forcing his opponent to stay on the canvas with low kicks in the second round. He won the tournament title with a first-round knockout of Claudiu Istrate in the tournament finals.

Liu Ce faced Seiya Tanigawa in a cruiserweight bout at K-1 ReBIRTH 2 on December 9, 2023. He won the fight by a first-round knockout.

Liu faced Sebastian Lutaniuc for the vacant ISKA K-1 Intercontinental Super-cruiserweight (-95 kg) title at Wu Lin Feng 2024: 12th Global Kung Fu Festival on January 27, 2024. He won the fight by a first-round technical knockout.

Liu faced K-1 Cruiserweight (-90kg) titlist Sina Karimian at K-1 World MAX 2024 - World Tournament Opening Round on March 20, 2024. He won the fight by a third-round knockout.

Liu made his first K-1 Cruiserweight (-90kg) title defense against Mahmoud Sattari at K-1 World MAX 2024 on September 29, 2024. He won the fight by majority decision. Liu was stripped of the title on May 26, 2025, after he pulled out of his scheduled title defense due to a nose injury a week before the event.

Mixed martial arts career Ultimate Fighting Championship After gaining a record of 3–1 in his MMA career, Liu was scheduled to make his UFC debut against Junior Tafa on August 30, 2026, at UFC Fight Night 286. However, Tafa pulled out due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Levi Rodrigues Jr. He won the fight by knockout in the first round. This fight earned him a $100,000 Fight of the Night award.

Championships and accomplishments Mixed martial arts Ultimate Fighting Championship Fight of the Night (One time)

Kickboxing Professional K-1 2024 K-1 Cruiserweight (−90kg) Champion One successful defense 2024 K-1 Fighter of the Year 2023 K-1 30th Anniversary Openweight Tournament Winner

International Sport Kickboxing Association 2024 ISKA K-1 Intercontinental Super Cruiserweight (-95 kg) Champion

Amateur 2023 Chinese National Kickboxing Championship Gold -90 kg

Sanda Amateur Sanda 4x Liaoning Provincial Sanda Championship -90 kg Gold (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) 2016 National Wushu Sanda Championship Silver -100 kg 2017 National Wushu Sanda Championship 5th place -100 kg

Mixed martial arts record Win

Levi Rodrigues Jr. KO (punch) UFC Fight Night: Nurmagomedov vs. Song

Shanghai, China Win

Igor Barabanov TKO (leg kicks and punches) WLF W.A.R.S. 94

Zhengzhou, China Loss

Ivan Gnizditskiy TKO (punches) Happy Elephant MMA Champions League 11

Macau, SAR, China Win

Batjargal Munkh-Erdene KO (punches) WLF W.A.R.S. 65

Zhengzhou, China Win

Yu Haiming KO (punch and head kick) WLF W.A.R.S. 64

Zhengzhou, China Kickboxing record