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UFC Nashville took place on Saturday, July 12th, in the sold-out Bridgestone Arena. An action-packed night with 8 finishes of the 12 fights on the card, and fighters of all kinds competing. From promising prospects to UFC veterans and even legends of the sport, all are fighting on this Tennessee fight night. The card appealed to both casual fans and die-hards by featuring household names, fan favorites, and up-and-comers vying to prove themselves on the biggest stage. Here is the full recap of the featured fights of UFC Nashville
Vitor Petrino vs Austen Lane: Heavyweight
Austen Lane started fairly well to begin the first round and utilized his superior reach well before overcommitting on a body kick and being taken down by Petrino. Petrino held Lane in mount and went for a couple of submission attempts before raining down some great ground and pound. Lane, trying to escape, attempted to get up, and Petrino immediately took the back and locked in a rear-naked choke and submitted Lane in the first round. Dominant win by Petrino, who is looking like a promising heavyweight prospect. Petrino is now 12-2 and hoping for a ranked fight soon.
Morgan Charriere vs Nate Landwehr: Featherweight
In a back-and-forth striking battle throughout most of the fight, Charriere and Landwehr both had their moments. Charriere utilized his kicks very well with some clean boxing, while Landwehr showed very good combos that hurt Charriere a couple of times. As the fight progressed, though, Charisse started to gain the upper hand and picked up momentum. To start the third round, Charriere stunned Landwehr and then threw a wild flurry of punches as he sensed the incoming knockout. Chairerre landed multiple more punches before knocking down Landwehr and putting him out. Charriere moves to 21-11-1 and is looking to get a couple more fights to put him in the Featherweight rankings.
#14 Calvin Kattar vs Steve Garcia: Featherweight
Steve Garcia proved himself in a career win over Calvin Kattar in dominant fashion. He pushed a relentless pace the whole fight and didn’t let Kattar gain any traction. Kattar had a few moments where he landed good punches that Garcia took note of, but for the most part, this fight was all Garcia. Garcia showcased great technical kickboxing and didn’t do a great job of mixing up his strikes. Garcia went on to win by decision and continued his 6-fight win streak. Garcia will be ranked after this fight, after beating the #14-ranked Kattar. Garcia advances to 18-5 and will be looking to work his way to a title shot after entering the top 15.
Gabriel Bonfim vs #12 Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson: Welterweight
Gabriel Bonfim defeats Stephen Thompson in a very close split decision. Both did what they do well, Wonderboy with the striking and Bonfim with the wrestling. In the first round. Bonfim took Wonderboy down and attempted a couple have submissions, which led him to win the round. In round two, Wonderboy started to catch a rhythm with his unique and famous striking style and started to land the bigger shots. Bonfim landed big shots as well, and both men hurt each other in round two. Wonderboy also sustained an injury to his shin towards the end of the round that may have affected him in round three. Round three was close, but Bonfim overwhelmed Wonderboy with his takedowns and clinch game to secure the split decision win. Bonfim will enter the rankings after this fight with an 18-1 record, and said that he only wants the top contenders next moving forward.
#9 Derrick Lewis vs #13 Tallison Texiera: Heavyweight
Derrick Lewis shocks the world again and is back on top of the heavyweight world after his 35-second knockout of Tallison Texiera, who is a big heavyweight prospect. Texiera stands at 6’7 and has a massive size advantage over Lewis, which many fans and even experts thought would be too much for him to handle. Lewis, who is known as the greatest knockout artist in the history of the company, proved them all wrong, though, as he came out of the gate hunting the knockout, and he did just that quickly and stunningly. Lewis continues to hold the record for most knockouts in UFC history at 16 and adds another name to his already long list with an impressive 29-12 record. This raises a lot of interesting questions about the future of the heavyweight division and could potentially land Derrick Lewis a title shot shortly against the ferocious Tom Aspinall within one or two fights.
