Undercard overview: UFC Nashville has several fighters changing divisions

The many wide age gaps between opponents isn’t the only theme for this weekend’s UFC Fight Night event in Nashville.

Another is the fact that Saturday’s 12-bout card at Bridgestone Arena will also see several fighters jumping weight classes and competing in a new division.

Middleweight veteran Chris Curtis is moving down to the welterweight division for the first time in his UFC tenure and the first time overall since 2021.

Curtis, who turns 38 next week, has gone 5-4 with one no-contest competing in the UFC’s 185-pound division over his past 10 fights, but his current two-fight losing streak — a close split decision to Brendan Allen 15 months ago and a last-second TKO loss to Roman Kopylov in January — led to him dropping down to 170 pounds.

Curtis’s most recent appearance as a welterweight was a unanimous decision win over UFC alumnus Kenny Robertson at an XMMA event four years ago, a win that earned Curtis a shot in the UFC.

The longtime friend and teammate of former middleweight champion Sean Strickland won a fight on Dana White’s Contender Series as a welterweight back in 2018, but it didn’t earn him a UFC contract at the time.

His most recent extended stretch of competing at 170 pounds was in 2019 when he was in the PFL. Curtis is set to take on Max Griffin in Saturday’s featured preliminary bout.

Griffin, 39, has alternated wins and losses over the past few years and is coming off a December submission loss to Michael Chiesa. The 39-year-old is 8-9 in his UFC career, with all 17 of his UFC appearances since 2016 taking place in the welterweight division.  

Another fighter moving down in weight this weekend is Junior Tafa.

Formerly one of the smaller fighters in the heavyweight division, Tafa will be dropping down to 205 pounds. It will be Tafa’s first time competing in the light-heavyweight division since his pro debut in 2022.

Tafa, the younger brother of UFC heavyweight Justin Tafa, is 6-3 in pro MMA with all six of his wins coming by KO/TKO, including a second-round win over Sean Sharaf in his most recent outing last October. The 28-year-old is 2-3 at the UFC level and will face Tuco Tokkos on the main card. Tokkos, 35, is 0-2 in the UFC with losses to Navajo Stirling and Oumar Sy.

One fighter moving up in weight this weekend is Vitor Petrino, who’ll be going in the opposite direction as Tafa.

Petrino began his pro career 11-0 and was 4-0 in the UFC’s light-heavyweight division before being submitted by Anthony Smith, then knocked out by Dustin Jacoby in his two most recent bouts. Petrino will make his heavyweight debut against 13-6 Austen Lane, who has won just once in his past five fights. All six of Lane’s losses have been via KO/TKO. 

Petrino will be looking to follow the path Kennedy Nzechukwu has taken lately. Nzechukwu was on an impressive three-fight stoppage streak at 205 pounds before suffering a TKO loss to Dustin Jacoby and a decision loss to Ovince Saint Preux. That two-fight skid resulted in Nzechukwu deciding to move up to heavyweight, and he ended 2024 on a two-fight winning streak that saw him finish both Chris Barnett and Lukasz Brzeski within one round.

Nzechukwu is also on the UFC Nashville card, taking on Valter Walker, a fighter riding a two-fight first-round win streak of his own thanks to back-to-back heel hook submissions over Don'Tale Mayes and the aforementioned Junior Tafa.

Murphy done with MMA after UFC Nashville

Lauren Murphy confirmed to Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter this week that her flyweight matchup with Eduarda Moura will be her final MMA contest.

The one-time flyweight title challenger is 16-6 overall in her career and is 6-2 since 2019, with her only losses coming to Valentina Shevchenko in their UFC 266 title fight and to former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade at UFC 283. Those two losses sandwiched a win Murphy earned over former bantamweight champion Miesha Tate.

Murphy’s loss to Andrade was 2.5 years ago, and it marked her most recent UFC appearance. 

Can Garcia continue hot streak and extend Kattar’s skid?

A Fight of the Night frontrunner this weekend is the featherweight contest between Calvin Kattar and Steve Garcia in a matchup of two fighters that have been going in different directions of late.

Garcia is riding a five-fight win streak during which he has defeated all five of his opponents by KO/TKO within two rounds. The 33-year-old went 2-0 in 2024 with a pair of first-round knockouts of Seung-woo Choi and Kyle Nelson, both of which earned him a Performance of the Night bonus.

A possible place in the 145-pound rankings is on the line if Garcia can extend his streak to six straight.

Kattar, 37, has lost five of his past six fights since 2021 and is on a four-fight skid heading into this weekend. One of those losses on his current losing streak was a close split decision to Josh Emmett and another was due to him blowing out his knee against Arnold Allen.

Despite his cold streak, Kattar has held onto to his spot in the rankings and is currently the No. 14-ranked featherweight contender.

Davis with a rare quick turnaround

Mike Davis doesn’t often fight more than once per year, but fight fans will get to see the lightweight for the second time in six months when he meets Mitch Ramirez on the prelims.

This will be the first time since 2019 that Davis has fought more than once in the same year. Davis had a four-fight winning streak snapped in February with a unanimous decision loss to Fares Ziam.

Saturday’s card is headlined by heavyweight knockout artists Derrick Lewis and Tallison Teixeira, and features a welterweight co-main event with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson taking on Gabriel Bonfim.

Projected bout order for UFC Nashville below…

MAIN CARD

-- Derrick Lewis vs. Tallison Teixeira

-- Stephen Thompson vs. Gabriel Bonfim

-- Calvin Kattar vs. Steve Garcia

-- Nate Landwehr vs. Morgan Charriere

-- Vitor Petrino vs. Austen Lane

-- Junior Tafa vs. Tuco Tokkos

PRELIMINARY CARD

-- Max Griffin vs. Chris Curtis

-- Jake Matthews vs. Chidi Njokuani

-- Lauren Murphy vs. Eduarda Moura

-- Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Valter Walker

-- Mitch Ramirez vs. Mike Davis

-- Fatima Kline vs. Melissa Martinez