Derrick Lewis reinforced his status as the UFC’s knockout leader by stopping previously unbeaten Brazilian prospect Tallison Teixeira 35 seconds into the opening round of their heavyweight headliner at UFC Nashville early Sunday. Referee intervention came after Lewis sent the 6-foot-8 Teixeira to the canvas with a left hand and followed with a flurry of punches against the fence, handing the Brazilian his first professional defeat and improving Lewis’s record to 29-12 (1 no contest). Both fighters had comfortably cleared Friday’s weigh-in, with Lewis coming in at 261 pounds and Teixeira at 259, making the bout official at the top of a card broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+. Lewis entered the Octagon as an underdog at odds of roughly +186 to +260 against the 8-0 Teixeira, who had scored a 35-second knockout in his own UFC debut earlier this year. The victory gives the 40-year-old Texan back-to-back first-round knockouts, following his May 2024 finish of Rodrigo Nascimento, and further cements his position among the division’s most dangerous finishers as the UFC weighs its next slate of heavyweight match-ups.