Taiyilake Nueraji makes his UFC debut as part of Saturday’s UFC Shanghai Fight Night event. The welterweight is set to take on Kiefer Crosbie on a card headlined by Johnny Walker and Zhang Mingyang.
“Super Saiyan” Taiyilake Nueraji
Standing at six-foot-two
Fighting at 170 lbs (welterweight)
24-years-old
Fighting out of Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Training out of Enbo Fight Club
A pro record of 11-1 (1 No Contest)
10 KO/TKOs, 1 Submission
Heading into his RTU feature bout in 2023, I labeled Nueraji a meme fighter. He had the wild, reckless style that made him entertaining, but not necessarily someone you’d project as a legitimate prospect. Fast forward, and while that tag still clings to him in certain ways, he’s proving hard to dismiss. There’s a raw danger to the way he fights that demands attention.
Nueraji’s game is built on chaos. He’s reckless, yes, but that’s exactly what fuels his success. He doesn’t shy away from a brawl—he embraces it. He’ll take punches just to land his own, and the difference is that he hits far harder than most of his opponents can handle. His chin and durability give him the confidence to walk through fire, and his knockout power, paired with his relentless forward pressure, makes him one of those fighters who feels like a finish is always lurking around the corner.
What makes him intriguing isn’t just the power in his hands, though. His striking may lack polish—his technique is loose and he throws wide—but he carries a wide array of dangerous weapons. Even if the mechanics aren’t textbook, the danger is very real. He’s in love with throwing elbows and it’s become a valuable weapon in his last few fights. Beyond that, his wrestling has shown to be more than serviceable. He’s not just a brawler; he can change levels, put opponents on their backs, and threaten to finish the fight on the mat as well. That added dimension makes him more unpredictable and harder to prepare for.
The most encouraging part about Nueraji is his age—he’s only 24. Fighters with his kind of power, toughness, and fearlessness are already tough outs on the regional scene, but with proper structure, coaching, and discipline, he could evolve into a genuine contender at the UFC level. Right now he’s raw, messy, and prone to taking risks that will cost him against sharper opponents. But those same qualities are what make him so exciting to watch, and why you can’t write him off.
At this stage, Nueraji is still a bit of a wild card, but he’s shown enough to shed the “meme fighter” label and replace it with something more dangerous: a young, fearless talent with knockout power, growing skills, and the potential to become a real threat in the UFC.
How he matches up against Crosbie:
Crosbie enters almost every UFC fight at a disadvantage. His signing was largely tied to his connection with Conor McGregor, and so far the results have reflected that—he’s 0-2 in the promotion and hasn’t made it out of the first round. His danger zone comes in very specific spots: when he manages to secure mount, or when the fight devolves into a messy brawl. The issue is that while he can be dangerous in those exchanges, he also absorbs a lot of punishment and tends to wilt under pressure.
That’s exactly the kind of fight where Nueraji thrives. He’s at his best in chaotic scrambles and reckless exchanges, and unlike Crosbie, he doesn’t crumble when the fire gets hot. Crosbie likes to work inside with his elbows, but Nueraji is meaner and more effective in that same range. Add in the fact that Crosbie is 35 with no UFC wins, while Nueraji is just 24 and riding real momentum, and the matchup looks lopsided.
Where Crosbie is supposed to be dangerous, Nueraji is better. Expect him to draw Crosbie into the kind of brawl that plays directly to his strengths and overwhelm him early. The pick: Nueraji by first-round TKO.
