The UFC’s return to Tennessee’s capital city includes a heavyweight bout between Curtis Blaydes and Justin Willis.
Last Saturday the UFC that Stephen Thompson vs. Anthony Pettis is going to headline a Fight Night event in Nashville, Tennessee, and they have since revealed several other matchups for this card.
The most notable bout listed here is a heavyweight clash between Curtis Blaydes and Justin Willis, which was first reported by FloCombat. Also on tap are women’s flyweights Jennifer Maia vs. Alexis Davis, as well as Maycee Barber vs. JJ Aldrich, and a strawweight clash between Angela Hill and Randa Markos. Men’s flyweights Jussier Formiga and Deiveson Figueiredo are also booked, confirming a report from last week.
Blaydes (10-2, 1 NC) will look to bounce back from a quick TKO loss in his rematch with Francis Ngannou from last November. “Razor” Blaydes is a promising talent at just 27 years old, and already has notable wins over Alexey Oleinik, Alistair Overeem, and Mark Hunt. Willis (8-1) is unbeaten in his brief UFC career, and he too also has a victory over Hunt, albeit in a rather tepid decision. Three of his four UFC fights have gone the distance.
As for the other contests, Maia (15-5-1) dropped her UFC debut to Liz Carmouche last July. The former Invicta champion was handed a six-month USADA suspension over a tainted supplement, but obviously her suspension will be up by fight night. Davis (19-8) is a former bantamweight title challenger who is 1-1 at flyweight, beating Carmouche by split decision but most recently falling to Katlyn Chookagian by unanimous decision.
Barber (6-0) is a promising prospect signed through Dana White’s Contender Series, and she made a tremendous splash in her first UFC appearance, getting a dominant TKO win vs. Hannah Cifers. Aldrich (7-2) is on a three-fight winning streak, most recently besting Polyana Viana by decision. She’s moving up to 125 for the first time in her UFC career.
Hill (8-5) hasn’t competed since a split decision loss to Cortney Casey at UFC Lincoln back in August. “Overkill” has alternated losses and wins over her last five outings. Markos (8-6-1) is eager to snap a two-fight winless run, including a decision defeat to Nina Ansaroff and a draw vs. Marina Rodriguez at last September’s UFC Sao Paulo.
Lastly, grappling specialist Formiga (22-5) has prevailed in his last three, including a decision over Sergio Pettis at UFC 229. Figueiredo (15-0) is a fellow Brazilian and a whirlwind of violence, with stoppage wins in three of his four UFC bouts. He was last seen TKOing former title challenger John Moraga at UFC Lincoln.
UFC Fight Night: Wonderboy vs. Pettis streams live on ESPN+ on Saturday, March 23rd, with the main card start time a very reasonable 8 PM ET/5 PM PT.