Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back in your life after a week off to stage UFC Nashville later TONIGHT (Sat., July 12, 2025) inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Headlining the ESPN+-streamed event will be a heavyweight fight between Derrick Lewis vs. Tallison Teixeira, while Stephen Thompson will battle Gabriel Bonfim in a Welterweight affair.
What’s Hot:
Lewis has once again proclaimed that fighting for a world title is not on his radar. Instead, “Black Beast” wants to fight all the “taxi cab drivers” UFC matchmakers can muster. Unfortunately for the hard-hitting big man, his next opponent is no ride-sharer. While a relative newcomer to the promotion with just one UFC win on his resume, Teixeira is off to a fine start to his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, going 8-0, 1-0 UFC with seven knockouts to his name. His style is perfect for Lewis because he, too, prefers to stand and bang and puts people to sleep more often than not.
Lewis has seen better days inside the Octagon, going just 2-4 in his last six outings; however, he is coming off a win over Rodrigo Nascimento, knocking him out more than one year ago (see it here). The 40-year-old brawler still wants to show he has plenty of gas left in the tank, and Teixeira — who just turned 25 — is more than ready to test him. “Xicao” made an impression in his Octagon debut, knocking out Justin Tafa in just 35 seconds at UFC 312 earlier this year (highlights). But, that is not his quickest finish, and he has 24- and 30-second knockouts on his resume long before he made his way to the world-famous Octagon. He now has the chance to top all of that if he can put “Black Beast” to sleep, though I don’t think he can do it in less than one minute. Nevertheless, we are in for a hard-hitting showdown that will more than likely end in someone going to sleep.
What’s Not:
Vitor Petrino and Austen Lane somehow made it onto the main card despite their recent struggles. Petrino — who will be making his Heavyweight debut — is currently on a two-fight losing streak with his last win coming in March 2024, while Lane is just 1-3 in his last four fights. I can think of a couple of undercard fights who deserved a main card slot over this matchup.
Original Card Vs. Actual Card:
A Middleweight showdown between Ateba Gautier vs. Robert Valentin was scheduled for this event before it was moved to UFC 318, which is set to go down next week (July 19, 2025) in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Injuries:
No injuries reported.
New Blood:
No newcomers for this event.
How The ‘Prelims’ Look:
Chris Curtis has lost two in a row and will look to avoid his third straight loss when he battles Max Griffin. A loss for Curtis would be detrimental if he ever wants to crack the Top 15 after getting off to a promising start to his UFC career. Griffin, meanwhile, is just 2-3 in his last five fights and is coming off a loss at the hands of long-time veteran, Michael Chiesa. While he won’t be facing the chopping block with another loss, he still needs to get back in the win column because a second straight loss can definitely put him on thin ice with the matchmakers.
One of my favorite fights of the night is a Welterweight scrap between Jake Matthews vs. Chidi Njokuani. Matthews is coming in with two straight wins, while Njokuani has won three in a row. Both men are really coming into their own as of late, and the victor here gets a huge shot of confidence moving forward.
Lauren Murphy has been fighting for a decade now under UFC’s bright lights, and she returns tonight her fifteenth fight inside the Octagon to face Eduarda Moura, who will take part in her fourth fight for the promotion. She is 2-1 so far, while Murphy is 6-2 in her last eight fights. Murphy has declared she will retire after tonight, so she would love nothing more than than to go out with a win.
Both Kennedy Nzechukwu and Valter Walker are coming in hot having won their last two respective bouts. Now, one man will continue his streak, while the other will have to start from scratch once the dust settles as they are set to collide in a meaningful Light Heavyweight bout. Walker is 2-1 under UFC’s banner, suffering his lone MMA loss at the hands of Lukasz Brzeski in his debut bout. As for Nzechukwu, he is more experienced with a UFC record of 7-5.
Mitch Ramirez came up short in his first UFC fight after losing via technical knockout at the hands of Thiago Moises in March 2024. Now, he is out to pick up his first win under UFC’s banner when he battles Mike Davis, who saw his four-fight UFC win streak go up in smoke at the hands of Fares Ziam earlier this year.
Fatima Kline vs. Melissa Martinez will kick off the action on the undercard in a women’s Strawweight fight. Martinez is 1-1 so far inside the Octagon, scoring her first UFC win by defeating Alice Ardelean via unanimous decision back in Oct. 2024. She previously lost in her debut against Elise Reed two years prior. As for Kline, she also secured her first UFC win by knocking out Victoria Dudakova earlier this year, after she came up short in her debut against Jasmine Jasudavicius.
Tuco Tokkos has had two stints with UFC, and he has yet to secure a win. He is currently on a two-fight losing streak, and if he suffers his third straight when he goes toe-to-toe against Junior Tafa, it’s safe to say the he could be the next fighter getting his pink slip. Tafa got a new lease on his combat life after he snapped his two-fight skid, defeating Sean Sharaf via technical knockout back in Oct. 2024, and he will be dropping down to 205 pounds for the first time in his career.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
Calvin Kattar is currently in the midst of the longest losing streak of his combat career having dropped his last four fights. He has only been finished once in that skid, but it’s still not a good look as he comes into his fight against Steve Garcia who, by the way, has won five straight. Seriously, who thought this was a good matchup? And why would Garcia’s team agree to this? Nevertheless, Garcia is out to keep his momentum going, even if it comes at the expense of a fighter on a slump. Should Kattar drop his fifth straight, I expect him to get cut.
Interest Level: 5.5/10
Thompson has definitely seen better days inside the Octagon. The Karate expert is currently on a two-fight losing streak, and has lost four of his last five fights. His only win in the last four years came against Kevin Holland. Now, “Wonderboy” is out to prevent suffering the longest losing streak of his career as he goes up against Bonfim in the co-main event. Bonfim is 4-1 under UFC’s banner, and you get the obvious feeling that Thompson is being used as a stepping stone to see if Bonfim can secure the biggest win of his career. But, Thompson isn’t about to rollover, and despite losing a step or three, he still has Bonfim covered in the striking department. “Marretinha” only has three wins via (technical) knockout, but 13 by way of submission, which tells you all you need to know about what he needs to do to secure a win.
Nate Landwehr and Morgan Charriere are each 2-2 in their last four UFC outings, so it’s a pretty good pairing. Landwehr is coming of a technical knockout loss at the hands of Doo Ho Choi (see that again here), while Charriere was last seen coming up short on the judges scorecards against Nathaniel Wood. Both men are hungry for a win for their self-confidence, so we could see a pretty good barn-burner here.
Enjoy the fights!
Full UFC Nashville Fight Card:
UFC Nashville Main Event on ESPN/ESPN+:
265 lbs.: Derrick Lewis vs. Tallison Teixeira
UFC Nashville Main Card on ESPN/ESPN+ (9 p.m. ET):
170 lbs.: Stephen Thompson vs. Gabriel Bonfim
265 lbs.: Vitor Petrino vs. Austen Lane
145 lbs.: Calvin Kattar vs. Steve Garcia
205 lbs.: Junior Tafa vs. Tuco Tokkos
145 lbs.: Nate Landwehr vs. Morgan Charriere
UFC Nashville ‘Prelims’ Under Card on ESPN/ESPN+ (6 p.m. ET):
170 lbs.: Chris Curtis vs. Max Griffin
170 lbs.: Jake Matthews vs. Chidi Njokuani
125 lbs.: Lauren Murphy vs. Eduarda Moura
115 lbs.: Fatima Kline vs. Melissa Martinez
265 lbs.: Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Valter Walker
155 lbs.: Mike Davis vs. Mitch Ramirez
*Fight card, bout order and number of fights subject to change.*
LIVE! Stream UFC Nashville On ESPN+
HEAVY LEATHER! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) crashes Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sat., July 12, 2025, with UFC Nashville. Record-setting knockout artist, Derrick Lewis, collides with undefeated up-and-comer, Tallison Teixeira, in a blistering main event mashup scheduled for five, five-minute rounds. In UFC Nashville’s co-main event, former welterweight title challenger, Stephen Thompson, locks horns with once-beaten Brazilian bruiser, Gabriel Bonfim, with a spot in the welterweight Top 15 up for grabs.
Don’t miss a single second of face-punching action!
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Nashville fight card right here, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 9 p.m. ET (also on ESPN/ESPN+).
To checkout the latest and greatest UFC Nashville: “Lewis vs. Teixeira” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
