UFC Fight Night 257: Taiyilake Nueraji vs. Kiefer Crosbie Prediction for Today, 08/23/25

The first fight on the Main Card at UFC Fight Night 257 will see Taiyilake Nueraji take on Kiefer Crosbie. This will be a fight in the UFC Welterweight division. Nueraji enters this fight with an MMA record of 11-1 and 1-0 in the UFC. Further, this will be his official UFC debut. He is averaging 11.01 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 48%. Nueraji absorbs 7.39 strikes and has a striking defense of 58%.

Crosbie enters this fight with an MMA record of 10-5 and 0-2 in the UFC. He is averaging 6.27 significant strikes per minute and has a striking accuracy of 64%. Crosbie absorbs 4.97 strikes and has a striking defense of 54%.

Nueraji is the significant favorite, which is risky, being that this is his first official UFC fight. With that, we will target this fight to go under 1.5 rounds. Crosbie has seen both of his UFC fights end under 1.5 rounds, while Nueraji saw his recent fight at the Road to UFC 2.1 + 2.2 event do the same. Because both fighters have seen their recent fights end under 1.5 rounds, backing the same here will be our lean.