UFC Fight Night 257: Taiyilake Nueraji vs Kiefer Crosbie Preview & Prediction
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A pair of exciting welterweights are on deck to kick off the main card of UFC Fight Night 257, as the battle tested Kiefer Crosbie welcomes hyped prospect, Taiyilake Nueraji, to the promotion.
Taiyilake Nueraji vs Kiefer Crosbie facts
What time are Taiyilake Nueraji and Kiefer Crosbie expected to walk out?
Where is UFC Fight Night 257: Walker vs Zhang? Shanghai Indoor Stadium, Shanghai, China
Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night 257: Walker vs Zhang? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC Fight Night 257
What TV channel is UFC Fight Night 257: Walker vs Zhang on? UK – TNT Sports / USA – ESPN+
Where can I stream UFC Fight Night 257: Walker vs Zhang? UK – TNT Sports subscribers can stream the event online via the TNT Sports website and discovery+ / USA – ESPN+ & UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Night 257: Walker vs Zhang main card
Johnny Walker vs Zhang Mingyang (Light Heavyweight)
Brian Ortega vs Aljamain Sterling (Featherweight)
Sergei Pavlovich vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta (Heavyweight)
Su Mudaerji vs Kevin Borjas (Flyweight)
Taiyilake Nueraji vs Kiefer Crosbie (Welterweight)
UFC Fight Night 257: Walker vs Zhang prelims
Maheshate Hayisaer vs Gauge Young (Lightweight)
Lone'er Kavanagh vs Charles Johnson (Flyweight)
Rong Zhu vs Austin Hubbard (Lightweight)
Michel Pereira vs Kyle Daukaus (Middleweight)
Yi Zha vs Westin Wilson (Featherweight)
Xiao Long vs You Su-young (Bantamweight)
Uran Satybaldiev vs Diyar Nurgozhay (Light Heavyweight)
Taiyilake Nueraji: "Super Saiyan" touches down in the UFC looking to maintain his 100% finishing rate
With an aggressive fight style and a 100% finishing record throughout his professional career, Taiyilake Nueraji (11-1, 1 NC) presents an exciting prospect for the UFC to further crack the Asian MMA market. The 24 year old Chinese standout is a walking, talking highlight reel, boasting nine vicious first-round stoppages to underline his credentials as an all-action destroyer. With a ferocious face-plant elbow KO on Road to UFC in 2023 already under his belt, expectations are high for Nueraji to make a splash in his debut in front of an adoring home crowd. An enormous welterweight who stands 6'2, "Super Saiyan" will also enter this matchup with a notable 6.5' edge in reach over his stockier opponent.
Kiefer Crosbie: Can the SBG Ireland veteran play spoiler and stop the hometown favorite in his tracks?
A professional since 2016, Kiefer Crosbie (10-5) is an OG representative of Irish MMA. The SBG Ireland mainstay is a bona fide finisher, with 70% of his wins coming before the final bell. However, while Crosbie is a tough-as-nails bruiser with legitimate dynamite in his fists, his UFC tenure has highlighted the main deficiency in his MMA arsenal; his grappling. The Irishman is 0-2 in the UFC since arriving in 2023, succumbing to successive first round submission defeats at the hands of Kevin Jousset and Sam Paterson respectively. Faced with an opponent who will likely oblige him by engaging in a stand up war, Crosbie will be hoping to earn his sixth career KO victory as a considerable underdog.
Taiyilake Nueraji vs Kiefer Crosbie prediction
Crosbie is as tough and battle tested as they come, but it's hard to escape the sensation that the UFC are feeding him to the lions here in the hopes that Nueraji finds his sixth successive victory and another highlight reel finish in front of a baying Chinese crowd.
"Super Saiyan" is a hyper-aggressive competitor who does not emphasize defense and Crosbie's power means that he is always dangerous. While the oddsmakers may have Nueraji pegged as a considerable favorite here, there's a conceivable outcome where the Chinese fighter runs face first onto something murderous in search of a finish and gets flatlined for his troubles. He's also entirely unproven at the highest level of MMA, a state of affairs that has seen many a prospect swiftly stopped in their tracks.
However, in a stand up MMA scrap between two KO artists, it usually pays to favor the younger, more dynamic fighter with less wear and tear on the tracks. Nueraji hasn't exactly faced world beaters on the regional scene, but he's been consistently decimating competition arguably on par with Crosbie at this point in the game. Furthermore, it's hard to escape the notion that "BDK" is 35 and has looked awful in his both of his UFC outings to date.
The ever-game Crosbie will come out swinging, but "Super Saiyan" overwhelms him on the feet or snatches up an opportunistic submission after hurting the Irishman before the final bell.
Prediction: Taiyilake Nueraji to win by stoppage
