Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is just one day away from the upcoming UFC Nashville mixed martial arts (MMA) event, set to go down tomorrow night (Sat., July 12, 2025) on ESPN and ESPN+ at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. UFC Nashville features a heavyweight main event between record-setting knockout artist Derrick Lewis and undefeated division prospect Tallison Teixeira, a five-round showdown with potential title implications for late 2025 and beyond.
Before we dive into the main and co-main event, which includes the welterweight collision between former 170-pound title challenger Stephen Thompson and once-beaten Brazilian bruiser Gabriel Bonfim, check out Andrew Richardson’s “X-Factor” breakdown for the rest of the UFC Nashville main card by clicking here. Get all the latest “Lewis vs. Teixeira” odds and betting props courtesy of FanDuel right here. For UFC Nashville live results for this weekend’s fight card in the “The Volunteer State” click here.
265 lbs.: Derrick Lewis vs. Tallison Teixeira
Derrick “The Black Beast” LewisRecord: 28-12, 1 NC | Age: 40 | Betting line: +210Wins: 23 KO/TKO, 1 SUB, 4 DEC | Losses: 7 KO/TKO, 2 SUB, 3 DECHeight: 6’3” | Reach: 79” | Stance: OrthodoxSignificant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 2.48 | Striking accuracy: 50%Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 2.48 | Striking Defense: 40%Takedown Average: 0.57 (26% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 52%Current Ranking: No. 9 | Last fight: Technical knockout win over Rodrigo Nascimento
Tallison “Xicao” TeixeiraRecord: 8-0 | Age: 25 | Betting line: -280Wins: 7 KO/TKO, 1 SUB, 0 DEC | Losses: 0 KO/TKO, 0 SUB, 0 DECHeight: 6’7“ | Reach: 83” | Stance: OrthodoxSignificant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 14.61 | Striking accuracy: 59%Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 7.50 | Striking Defense: 59%Takedown Average: 0.00 (0% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 0%Current Ranking: No. 13 | Last fight: Technical knockout win over Justin Tafa
Derrick Lewis has the most knockouts in the history of UFC and that’s probably the best thing you can say about the “Black Beast” in terms of his MMA career. To be fair, the 40 year-old Texan also has eight post-fight performance bonuses with three “Fight of the Night” honors, leaving him just one shy of the division mark set by former heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic. Lewis has been competing for UFC since his technical knockout win over Jack May back in early 2014, a span of more than 11 years (Lewis was just 29 at the time of his debut).
In the years that followed, “Mattress Mack’s” favorite customer compiled a record of 19-10 with one No Contest and he currently sits just inside the Top 10 at 265 pounds. Lewis has been dealing with a bad back for most of his career and has pretty much mailed it in for the last several years. “Black Beast” is coming off a technical knockout victory over Rodrigo Nascimento but has lost five of his last eight, getting finished in four of those losses. In fact, nine of his 12 losses have come by way of knockout or submission — but Lewis is rarely in a boring fight (this abomination notwithstanding).
“I’ve fought way more tough fighters than this guy,” Lewis told UFC.com. “All his wins just came against guys that were 0-1, 1-2, 1-1, really having no experience. So they’re really trying to build this guy up for failure. That’s what I believe. I believe it’s too soon for him. That’s what I think. I believe there really are levels to it.”
“I think coming up against a guy like me, very unpredictable, very dangerous, you never know what to expect,” Lewis continued. “I think it’s just too early for him to fight someone like me. He should expect that [I’m] going to come at him like no other opponent has come at him before. He’s going to realize that he made a big mistake signing that paper.”
Tallison Teixeira is the new kid on the proverbial block and he’s already gotten everyone’s attention by racking up eight straight first-round knockout finishes. The Brazilian blasted his way onto the roster by popping and dropping Arthur Lopes on Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in Sept. of 2024 then followed that up with a 35-second finish over Justin Tafa at UFC 312. To earn a main event slot in just two fights for the promotion should tell you what matchmakers think of Teixeira’s skill set, or maybe they figure the aging and somewhat-brittle Lewis has declined enough to make this fight even, since they are not even remotely close in experience.
Like most MMA fans, I like what I see from Teixeira and he is without question a lethal striker, Standing 6’7” with a 83-inch reach certainly helps, but not as much as fighting absolute nobodies on the international circuit. Lopes went back to the regional circuit after losing to Teixeira and Tafa is an undersized heavyweight, so I’m not sure those are the kinds of wins that should be driving “Xicao” to a -280 betting favorite. Did we already forget what happened to that other 6’7” heavyweight knockout artist who dazzled Dana White on “Contender Series” then won his first UFC fight by knockout? I’m talking about Robelis Despaigne, who went from cock of the walk to feather duster in two fights and is now fighting for those weird crypto bros under the Karate Combat banner.
“I like this because I’ll be remembered as the man that ended the Brazilian curse,” Teixeira told MMA Fighting. “Brazilians need this after sad losses we had. Brazil needs this incentive, you know? I think that motivates me even more to give my best possible [performance] inside the Octagon.”
Lewis is not without his issues and you can never quite tell if he actually gives a s—t about his fighting career or just wants to collect his paycheck and go home. What I can say for certain, is that he’s fought (and defeated) some of the best heavyweights in the world and also stopped heavyweights taller than Teixeira, like Alexander Volkov. Unless “The Black Beast” is completely washed (or completely checked out), I think he shows the 25 year-old hotshot there are levels to this game, even when some of the playing pieces are old and cracked.
Prediction: Lewis def. Teixeira by knockout
170 lbs.: Stephen Thompson vs. Gabriel Bonfim
Stephen “Wonderboy” ThompsonRecord: 17-8-1 | Age: 42 | Betting line: +320Wins: 8 KO/TKO, 1 SUB, 8 DEC | Losses: 2 KO/TKO, 1 SUB, 5 DECHeight: 6’0“ | Reach: 75” | Stance: OrthodoxSignificant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 4.11 | Striking accuracy: 46%Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 3.02 | Striking Defense: 55%Takedown Average: 0.25 (41% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 63%Current Ranking: No. 12 | Last fight: Knockout loss to Joaquin Buckley
Gabriel “Marretinha” BonfimRecord: 17-1 | Age: 27 | Betting line: -410Wins: 3 KO/TKO, 13 SUB, 1 DEC | Losses: 1 KO/TKO, 0 SUB, 0 DECHeight: 6’1“ | Reach: 72” | Stance: OrthodoxSignificant Strikes Landed Per Minute: 5.22 | Striking accuracy: 43%Strikes Absorbed Per Minute: 3.80 | Striking Defense: 65%Takedown Average: 3.68 (76% accuracy) | Takedown Defense: 73%Current Ranking: Unranked | Last fight: Submission win over Kalinn Williams
Stephen Thompson is 42 years old, has lost four of his last five, and is coming off a brutal knockout loss to Joaquin Buckley at UFC 307 last October. In fact, “Wonderboy” has just four wins over the last nine years but somehow retained his spot in the division Top 15, sandwiched between Geoff Neal and Carlos Prates. Thompson is a former kickboxer and continues to fight like one, getting taken down 17 times across his last five fights. I’m not sure what the former welterweight title challenger has left to offer at this point in his combat sports career, but trying to stay off the ground and outpoint fighters for a decision has not been a winning strategy and Thompson is facing an opponent who averages more than three takedowns per fight.
“I’ve got two fights left, and we’re going to see them through, we’re going to honor them,” Thompson told MMA Junkie. “Go out there and win these next two fights in a great fashion, and we’ll see if we’ll keep going. It depends on what the UFC wants to do for sure. God forbid, if it doesn’t, then I’ve got other routes that I can take.”
“I’m notorious for giving these guys a shot,” Thompson continued. “I did it with Vicente Luque, Geoff Neal, Kevin Holland. I’m just the guy to allow these guys to come up and test themselves. I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for those guys — Jake Ellenberger, Johny Hendricks, Rory MacDonald. Those guys gave me a shot. So just giving these guys a chance to prove themselves coming up, that’s kind of what it is at this point.”
Gabriel Bonfim cut his teeth on Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in late 2022 and outside of his misstep against Nicholas Dalby the following year — when Bonfim was just 25 years old — the Brazilian has been virtually unstoppable, racking up four wins with three nasty finishes, two coming in the very first round. “Marretinha” may not be in his fighting prime just yet but he’s pretty damn close and already looks like a future title contender, though you can also argue that Bonfim has yet to fight an elite welterweight. I doubt anyone is breaking out the party hats for victories over Kalinn Williams and Ange Loosa.
Stylistically, this is simply a bad matchup for Thompson, who thrives when opponents afford him the space to strike from range, like Kevin Holland. Despite his numerous submissions, Bonfim is no slouch on his feet and will be able to keep “Wonderboy” in reverse with his constant aggression. That should lead to some tie-ups against the cage and eventually, the takedown. Thompson has only been submitted once in his professional MMA career, though it’s probably because he’s never fought a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with the credentials of Bonfim. I don’t want to harp on the age difference here (it’s 15 years if you’re counting) so I will instead harp on the fact that Thompson continues to look worse in each successive fight.
Prediction: Bonfim def. Thompson by submission
Be sure to check out the rest of the UFC Nashville main card predictions RIGHT HERE.
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 and ESPN+ preliminary card matchups at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining UFC Nashville main card balance on ESPN and ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Nashville news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Lewis vs. Teixeira” fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ lineup click here.
