Preview: UFC Nashville ‘Lewis vs. Teixeira’

Light Heavyweights

Junior Tafa (6-3, 2-3 UFC) vs. George Tokkos (10-5, 0-2 UFC)

ODDS: Tafa (-175); Tokkos (+140)

Like fellow UFC Nashville participants Gabriel Bonfim and Valter Walker, Tafa is the younger and less established of a pair of UFC siblings, but where the other two are the larger “little brother” in their pairs, Tafa splits the difference by being taller than Justin Tafa, yet slim enough that he can drop to 205 pounds, which would be laughable to see his brother try after once failing to make the heavyweight limit.

After joining the UFC as a raw undefeated prospect two years ago, Tafa settled into “just another guy” status at heavyweight, at best. His 2-3 run is no great shakes, and gets even worse in the details, as he has not always looked impressive even while winning. His quick destruction of Parker Porter was a righteous disposal of a decent foe with lots of Octagon experience, but against Sean Sharaf, he was reduced to wading through counterpunches in order to land his own offense in a miserably sloppy brawl. Despite being younger, taller and rangier than his brother, the younger Tafa simply does not appear to be on the same level as a striker.

The drop to light heavyweight is unlikely to solve all of Tafa’s problems, but if he can make the weight comfortably, it’s not a terrible move. If nothing else, Tokkos will provide a chance to get his feet wet in his new division. The lanky Englishman is winless in the UFC in two tries—three if you count his Road to UFC appearance in 2022—and was a bit of a surprising signing. Tokkos has a decent-sized frame for the division despite once plying his trade at middleweight, but his striking defense is poor and his offense, at least against UFC-level opponents (or Bellator-level opponents) is simply not threatening enough to keep his foes from doing more or less what they want.

That adds up to one of the lowest-level matchups possible in the current UFC light heavyweight division, as neither man has even proven conclusively that he belongs in the promotion. Tafa is a moderate favorite at the moment, but the fight feels closer to a pick ‘em, especially with the added variable that Tafa will need to weigh 206 pounds on Friday after consistently weighing in around 245 for his previous outings.

Either man could knock the other out within the first two minutes of this fight—whatever their faults may be, both of them swing hard and do not lack for aggression—and if one of them does, it’s more likely Tafa. However, there is a distinct possibility that this turns into a miserable slog, with a dehydrated Tafa tuning up Tokkos in Round 1, but both men gassing out as the fight wears on. The pick is Tafa by decision and then let us never speak of this fight again.



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Lewis vs. Teixeira
Thompson vs. Bonfim
Kattar vs. Garcia
Landwehr vs. Charriere
Petrino vs. Lane
Tafa vs. Tokkos
The Prelims