UFC: China Academy graduates Shayilan Nuerdanbieke and Aori Qileng get mixed results in Las Vegas

Two graduates of the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai returned to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 198 in Las Vegas

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke defeats Sean Soriano but flyweight Aori Qileng loses to Cody Durden

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China’s Shayilan Nuerdanbieke is a unanimous decision winner over American Sean Soriano. Photo: UFC

Published: 12:54pm, 21 Nov 2021Updated: 9:53pm, 21 Nov 2021

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke and Aori Qileng, two graduates of the UFC Performance Institute in Shanghai, returned to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 198 in Las Vegas on Saturday, but only Nuerdanbieke will return to China with a win to celebrate.

Nuerdanbieke, a 27-year-old featherweight from Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, was up first, taking on American striker Sean Soriano, 32. The fight went all three rounds, and was competitive for the duration, but when all was said and done, Nuerdanbieke had been the more successful man, completing 4 of 8 takedowns to rack up 7:25 of control time, and out-striking his American rival by a 111-49 margin.

Those stats were enough to sway the judges, who scored the fight unanimously in his favour.

In victory, Nuerdanbieke can move past a decision loss to Joshua Culibao in his UFC debut back in May. He’s now 20-7 overall, and can look forward to more tough challenges in the UFC’s perilous featherweight division.

“I’m very happy,” he said at the event’s post-fight press conference. “I prepared a lot for this fight and finally to get my first UFC win, I’m super thrilled.”

While Nuerdanbieke picked up a win for the China Academy in Las Vegas, his countryman Aori Qileng was not so lucky.

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