The two-time UFC heavyweight championship contender, Derrick Lewis, will seek to return to title contention when he faces undefeated contender Tallison Teixeira in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The preliminary card will begin at 6 p.m. ET, while the main event is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET. Lewis, who competed for the undisputed title at UFC 230 in November 2018 and for the interim title at UFC 265 in August 2021, will make his first appearance in the Octagon in 2025. His last victory was a knockout in the third round against Rodrigo Nascimento in May 2024. Teixeira comes to this fight after a knockout in the first round over Justin Tafa at UFC 312 in February.
Analysis and Predictions
MMA analysts and former UFC fighters, Anthony Smith and Din Thomas, offer their predictions for the main event.
Lewis’s experience is key in a fight like this. It’s been a while since his last fight, but I think he performs better when he has time to reflect on the magnitude of these fights.
Din Thomas
Tallison is a great fighter, but he hasn’t been tested to the fullest. He’s tall, but Lewis has a strange ability to find the chin of these young and tall rivals. Tallison will probably want to fight, but I feel like Derrick is really good at this anti-fighting style.
Anthony Smith
Betting Analysis
The quotas are accurate as of July 10th.
Tallison’s victory is predicted (+225). Lewis, a fan favorite, is coming off a win in the spring, but has a difficult challenge ahead against Teixeira, 25 years old. Lewis has over 10 years of experience in the UFC and many multi-round fights in his favor, while Teixeira has not seen the second round in his eight-fight professional career. Will that matter? In the past, Lewis has given up and suffered defeats when he has not been able to exhaust his opponents quickly, and unfortunately for him, I see him on the wrong side of a knockout blow on this occasion. Teixeira is an exciting prospect and potentially a future UFC heavyweight contender. You can bet on his money line in your parlay or that he wins within the distance.
Best Bets for the Rest of the Card
Welterweight: Stephen Thompson vs. Gabriel Bonfim Bonfim to win inside the distance. After consecutive losses by finish in December 2023 and October 2024, Thompson faces another promising finisher in Bonfim. Standing, Thompson’s distance striking and lateral movement will help him avoid Bonfim’s power, but for how long? At some point, Bonfim will take Thompson to the ground and implement his world-class jiu-jitsu. “Wonderboy”, a 13-year UFC veteran with losses in four of his last five fights, deserves credit for accepting this fight at this point in his career, but Bonfim is a bad matchup for him. I expect Bonfim to shine brightly.Peso Pluma: Calvin Kattar vs. Steve Garcia Garcia to win (-125). Garcia, with a streak of five consecutive finishes, will look to add Kattar to his resume. Garcia is a difficult opponent for anyone due to his knockout power and durability. He can also use his underestimated ground game if needed. Kattar is a good fighter, but he has lost four in a row. Unless he can exhaust Garcia with a wrestling game that he rarely uses, I don’t see a path to victory for Kattar. Expect Garcia to continue his impressive streak.Light Heavyweight: Junior Tafa vs. Tuco TokkosTafa to win (-175). Plain and simple: if Tokkos can’t take Tafa down and keep him on the ground for 15 minutes, Tokkos will be knocked out. Tokkos has lost his last two fights, and although Tafa is new to the light heavyweight division, he has knockout power that lasts an entire fight. Expect Tafa to come out looking for the finish, and I think he’ll get it.
