Shayilan Nuerdanbieke

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke (born May 4, 1994 Сайран Нұрданбек ) is a Chinese mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Background
Sayran comes from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, which is located in northern Xinjiang, straddling the borders of Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. He belongs to the Kazakh minority, training wrestling for 6 years and winning the 66KG Classical Wrestling Championship in Xinjiang and participated in many national competitions. After seeing Conor McGregor on television, he was inspired to try his hand in MMA.

He spends his free time practicing the dombra, a traditional stringed Kazakh musical instrument.

Early career
Starting his professional career in 2016, Sayran compiled a 37–9 record fighting on the Chinese regional scene.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Sayran made his UFC debut against Joshua Culibao at UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Garbrandt on May 22, 2021. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Nuerdanbieke faced Sean Soriano on November 20, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 198. He won the bout via unanimous decision.

Nuerdanbieke faced T.J. Brown on June 25, 2022 at UFC on ESPN 38. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Nuerdanbieke faced Darrick Minner on November 5, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 214. He won the fight via technical knockout in the first round. The fight was later part of a controversy when Minner and his coach James Krause were suspended by UFC when suspicious betting patterns emerged.

Nuerdanbieke faced Steve Garcia on April 8, 2023, at UFC 287. Despite knocking down Garcia, Nuerdanbieke lost the fight via TKO in the second round via body kick and then ground and pound.

Nuerdanbieke was scheduled to face Hyder Amil on February 10, 2024, at UFC Fight Night 236, but was pulled from the card in mid January for undisclosed reasons.

Nuerdanbieke faced Melquizael Costa on June 15, 2024 at UFC on ESPN 58. He lost the fight by a face crank submission in the third round.