The UFC returned to Nashville on Saturday, and in front of a raucous crowd of 17,000, heavyweight star Derrick Lewis dispatched of another young contender in Tallison Teixeira in the main event. Across the card though, rising players emerged and longtime veterans fell, perhaps ushering in a new batch of contenders to watch across divisions in the world’s finest fight promotion. Here is a breakdown of the major winners and losers from “UFC on ESPN: Lewis vs. Teixeira”. 

Winner: Derrick Lewis

When Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis wins, he wins in impressive fashion. On July 12, he did just that, as 35 seconds into the first round, he put Tallison Teixeira under hellacious pressure that forced referee Jason Herzog to stop the contest. Now regardless of whether or not the stoppage was early, as Teixeira protested the referee’s decision immediately after, Lewis’s notable punching power had the inexperienced heavyweight in dire straits. Ultimately who is to say that had the contest continued, the same result would not have come in another 10 to 15 seconds?

So what is next? It is hard to say, but after July 12, Lewis is now 3-1 in his last four fights. In a division where the current champion, Tom Aspinall, has beaten half of the ranked fighters in the Top 15, Lewis has the benefit of having never fought against the Englishman. Despite being the oldest contender of the bunch at 40 years old, Lewis in this latest performance showed he still has the veteran ability to pull a younger man into the danger, and the punching power to put anyone’s lights out. 

Winner: Steve Garcia

The next biggest winner from this card has to be Garcia. The 33-year-old seemed to have finally come into his own after having been with the promotion since 2019. After starting his UFC career 1-2, Garcia has rattled off six straight wins, five of which by stoppage. In this latest bout against Calvin Kattar, he was unable to get the finish, but he thoroughly outboxed his first ranked opponent through 15 minutes to a wide unanimous decision victory. 

Now ranked No. 11 in the featherweight division, Garcia’s level of opposition will take a radical leap, but with his slick kickboxing approach, and ability to move in and out of the line of fire, he can create problems for many fighters ranked ahead of him. Expect a main event slot for the  “Mean Machine” in the not-so-distant future.

Winner: Valter Walker

It might be surprising to see the Brazilian third on this list, and yet, when looking at the card in full, no one scored a more dominant victory than Walker. Brother to the light-heavyweight standout Johnny, Valter has begun to make a name of his own, as his 54 second heel hook victory is his third win in-a-row using said submission. 

Now let’s be clear, Valter’s road in the UFC has been kind to say the least. After losing his debut to Lukasz Brzeski, who is currently 1-5 in the promotion, Walker has beaten Junior Tafa, Don’Tale Mayes, and Kennedy Nzechukwu. Those names won’t inspire the UFC matchmakers to shoot Walker up the rankings, but what it does create is a necessity for Walker to be tested further. 

The knock against Tallison Teixeira in the main event was that he’d had one fight in the promotion before being paired against Derrick Lewis who is currently ranked No. 9 in the division. Now with three wins in the division, Walker has experience on his side for when, likely in his next fight, he’s paired with a ranked heavyweight. Will he be able to heel hook his way to the UFC title? Probably not, but expect Walker to fare a lot better on his path towards potential contendership.

Other Notable Winners: Gabriel Bonfim, Morgan Charrière, Chris Curtis

These three fighters performed admirably, and yet, showed vulnerability despite their success.

At 17-1 entering the contest, 27-year-old Gabriel Bonfim should have, in theory, been able to dominate against the aged veteran Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in his first co-main event opportunity. At 42 years old, Thompson is most definitely on his last legs in his fighting career, and prior to the bout he had been stopped in his last two outings. Yet, Thompson nearly scored the upset against Bonfim.

Utilizing his fan-favorite Karate style, Thompson hurt Bonfim late in the second round, and staved off multiple attempts by the Brazilian to take the fight to the ground early. Credit to Bonfim’s cardio that he was finally able to bring Thompson to the mat in the third, but there just wasn’t enough activity once there to encourage future bettors that Bonfim would be able to do the same against the welterweight elite. 

For Morgan Charrière, victory was sweet, but it was a struggle to get there. Fighting against the scrappy, in-your-face Nate Landwehr, Charrière’s boxing was on display, but his limitations were evident in his inability to put away Landwehr early. After leading comfortably in the first round, the effect of his blows in the second seemed to wane, allowing Landwehr to claw his way back in the fight and begin to control the action. It was only because of his reckless abandon in the third round that Charrière was able to knock out Landwehr for good. He will have to add something more to his boxing base if he hopes to stretch his win streak past this performance.

The last of the bunch is Chris Curtis. After a troubled career at middleweight, where he saw highs and lows, Curtis made his debut at welterweight against journeyman Max Griffin. One of the problems that has ailed Curtis was his affinity for point-fighting without urgency. Not throwing in fights will lead to unfavorable results, and in round one, it seemed he was enroute to another decision loss by virtue of not putting enough shots forward. In rounds two and three though, he picked it up enough to overcome Griffin, employing the crisp combinations he is known for, and earning the decision win for his efforts.

Final Thoughts

The UFC’s seventh trip to Nashville may not have been the most star-studded affair, but top-to-bottom it provided action, intrigue, and fighters to lookout for in the coming months. The UFC has entered the third quarter of its scheduled fight calendar, and after July 12, things are already heating up as the road to the end of 2025 begins.