UFC Nashville: Must-See Prelims in Tennessee Saturday Night

Live coverage of Saturday night’s action is seen wall-to-wall on ESPN (linearly) and ESPN+ (streaming media.) Prelims begin the evening at 6 pm ET/ 3 pm PT, with the main card following at 9 pm ET/ 6 pm PT. Our focus on this day is the undercard.

UFC Nashville Featured Prelim: Max Griffin vs. Chris Curtis

At the top of the bill on the UFC Nashville undercard this Saturday evening is a clash inside the UFC’s welterweight division pitting Max Griffin (20-11 MMA, 8-9 UFC) against “The Action Man”, Chris Curtis (31-12, 1 NC MMA, 5-4, 1 NC UFC.) All prelims on the show Saturday night will be an advertised maximum of three rounds at five minutes per round.

Griffin will be making the walk this weekend in The Music City with a record of 2-3 over the course of his last five fights in the UFC. Last time out, he was on the losing end of a third-round submission by way of rear-naked choke against Michael Chiesa (19-7 MMA, 14-7 UFC) on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas during UFC 310’s featured early prelim.

To find the last time that he had a sustained winning streak, you’d need to travel back in time to between November of 2020 and July of 2021, when he got his hand raised three consecutive times.

What will happen when Max Griffin makes his first walk of 2025? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, Chris Curtis enters the Octagon at UFC Nashville this coming weekend having posted a mark of 2-2 with one no-contest in his last five appearances. Currently, he’s dropped two fights in a row.

Back on Jan. 11, he was knocked out by way of head kick versus Roman Kopylov (14-3 MMA, 6-3 UFC) with one second remaining on the third-round clock. This is a man who retired from active competition twice in a single evening during the 2019 PFL playoffs after initially ending his career upon being rejected on Contender Series. Will Chris Curtis get back in the win column this time?

UFC Nashville Co-Featured Prelim: Jake Matthews vs. Chidi Njokuani

Immediately beforehand, you’ll be treated to another welterweight fixture in the UFC Nashville co-featured prelim when Jake Matthews (21-7 MMA, 14-7 UFC) meets up with Chidi Njokuani (25-10, 1 NC MMA, 5-3 UFC.) Matthews touches down in Nashville sporting a mark of 3-2 in his last five bouts.

Currently, he’s won two fights in succession. Most recently, he outpaced Francisco Prado (12-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC) on Feb. 8 in UFC 312’s main card from Sydney. Another victory here will mark three wins in a row for a seasoned veteran of the world of competitive violence.

He’ll be making his 29th career walk to the cage on Saturday night in his 22nd UFC promotional appearance. Statistically speaking, Matthews has scored 16 wins inside the distance and has won half of his UFC fights by stoppage. Tune into see if he adds to his highlight reel.

Across the way, Chidi Njokuani has gone 3-2 in his most recent five contests. At the moment, he’s scored three successive victories.

Four months ago in UFC London, he finished off Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (25-9-1 MMA, 11-5-1 UFC) with knees and elbows inside the second round of a scheduled three. Any time that a fighter is on a sustained winning streak, as Njokuani is right now, he’s at his most dangerous. Can he run his streak to four in a row?

UFC Nashville: Lauren Murphy vs. Eduarda Moura

Also on the UFC Nashville undercard, action takes place in the women’s flyweight division as Lauren Murphy (16-6 MMA, 8-6 UFC) takes on Eduarda Moura (11-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC.) Murphy makes her first walk to the Octagon in more than two years on Saturday night after going 3-2 in her last five bouts.

In January of 2023, she was on the losing end of a unanimous decision at the hands of Jessica Andrade (26-14 MMA, 17-12 UFC) after three rounds on the UFC 283 main card. She’s had close to 30 months between fights, so how much ring rust does she have going into UFC Nashville?

What has she been able to do in her training camp to shake that ring rust off? Watch the fight for the answers.

In the other corner, Eduarda Moura has gone 4-1 in her last five appearances inside the cage. The former Demo Fight Strawweight Champion and 2023 graduate of Contender Series emerged victorious from her Nov. 16 fight versus Veronica Hardy (9-5-1 MMA, 4-5 UFC) by way of unanimous decision inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Moura’s UFC career is still in its early days, and a victory here against Lauren Murphy would be a resume-builder. Get your popcorn ready for this one.

Final Thoughts

Which of the UFC Nashville prelims are you looking forward to on Saturday night?