Stephen Thompson vs Anthony Pettis
A welterweight matchup out of left field headlines UFC Nashville this Saturday, as two-time title challenger and #3 ranked contender Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson welcomes former lightweight champion Anthony 'Showtime' Pettis to 170lbs.
Pettis, who fought for the featherweight interim title little over two years ago, moves up to welterweight for the first time in the UFC.
Currently ranked #8 at lightweight, Pettis is coming off the back of a fight of the year contender last October against Tony Ferguson, where he lost via corner stoppage.
Thompson is also coming off a loss, after a closely-fought decision in the main event at Liverpool last May against Darren Till.
There will be the added incentive of a clearer route back to title contention for Wonderboy, after Kamaru Usman dethroned Tyron Woodley.
Woodley and Thompson shared 50 minutes of action over the course of two consecutive title fights, with Wonderboy unable to get the nod on either occasion and subsequently finding his path back to another shot blocked.
An impressive win for the 36-year-old will get him closer to the title picture, and would perhaps need just one more win to challenge for the belt.
Curtis Blaydes vs Justin Willis
Blaydes suffered a second disappointing setback to Francis Ngannou back in their main event in Beijing in November, with the Cameroonian stopping the #4 heavyweight in just 45 seconds.
Willis climbed into the top ten courtesy of a composed unanimous decision win over Mark Hunt in Adelaide and will look to move closer to the top five if he is able to defeat Blaydes.
Jussier Formiga vs Deiveson Figueiredo
Figueiredo has a high finishing rate for the division, only going to the judges twice in his 15 wins along with a mix of (T)KOs and submissions.
In his four UFC bouts to date, the 31-year-old has three TKO wins to his credit, most recently finishing former title challenger John Moraga in the second round back in August.
By comparison, Formiga will be entering the Octagon for the 13th time, currently holding a 9-4 UFC record.
The 33-year-old's wins are split between ten submissions and 12 decisions and is on a three fight winning streak, with two submission wins leading up to his unanimous decision win last time out against Sergio Pettis.
Alexis Davis vs Jennifer Maia
Maia entered the UFC as Invicta flyweight champion, with her previous three contests all going the 25 minute championship distance.
Davis is also no stranger to high-level competition, and the 34-year-old Canadian will be looking to get back on track following a unanimous decision defeat to #3 Katlyn Chookagian last July.
Bryce Mitchell vs Bobby Moffett
Mitchell picked up a unanimous decision win over TUF 27 teammate Tyler Diamond in his debut at the Ultimate Fighter season 27 finale last summer.
'Thug Nasty' has since suffered an infamous scrotum injury after some DIY involving a power tool went awry, and that has in turn delayed his UFC career but he has now made a recovery and is set to continue to protect his unbeaten record.
Moffett, meanwhile, got off to a controversial winning start in his November debut against veteran Chas Skelly.
The Wolfman won via d'arce choke in the 2nd round after referee Tim Mills had adjudged Skelly to have been choked unconscious, to which Skelly immediately protested following the stoppage.
Rest of the card
John Makdessi vs Jesus Pinedo (lightweight)
Luis Pena vs Steven Peterson (featherweight)
Maycee Barber vs JJ Aldrich (flyweight)
Marlon Vera vs Frankie Saenz (bantamweight)
Randa Markos #15 vs Angela Hill (strawweight)
Ryan MacDonald vs Chris Gutierrez (bantamweight)
Eric Shelton #11 vs Jordan Espinosa #14 (flyweight)
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