PFL World Tournament delivers first punch of summer fights in Nashville. Bare knuckle, UFC next
NASHVILLE − Fight season has officially begun in Nashville.
It all kicked off with the Professional Fighters League's World Tournament semifinals on June 12 at the Municipal Auditorium, the first of a full slate of fights in Music City this summer.
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"I got to tell you, I've been here four days and the vibe's amazing. The people are amazing. It's exciting ... we had a really good crowd out there and I think they were excited too," PFL insider and analyst Johnathan Coachman said after the card.
"We also have fighters that have really good following. So to me, we've got to target certain cities in the United States as we grow ... Nashville is a growing city. Everybody knows that. And damn we love it man, we really, really do."
It's the first taste of world class mixed martial arts that Nashville fans have had since August 2024, when PFL last made the trip to Middle Tennessee. But they won't have to wait long for the next set of fights.
On June 21, Nashville hosts Tennessee's first professional bare knuckle boxing card, which is being billed as the "Music City Brawl." Dana White and the UFC return to Nashville on July 12 for a Derrick Lewis-headlined Fight Night card at Bridgestone Arena.
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While Nashville has never been known as combat sports hub, the tide is beginning to turn with major promotions taking notice.
"Tennessee is a hot spot man. From Clarksville to Memphis to Knoxville (and) Nashville, Tennessee is a hotbed for MMA," Clarksville's Jason Danner (3-0) said winning the opening bout of the the PFL card. "There's so much good talent around, it's just never ending man.
"You go from East Tennessee to the Cumberland Plateau to the West. Tennessee is a hotbed man and it's growing and growing every year. I started out fighting in backyards and bars and now I'm in a stadium with some of the biggest names in MMA. It's a dream come true."
Thad Jean celebrates defeating Jason Jackson during the PFL World Tournament welterweight semifinal fight at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, June 13, 2025.
A growing fanbase is what ultimately brought PFL back to Nashville.
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"Nashville, the Music City, is an entertainment town of course, but it's also a sports town," PFL CEO Peter Murray told The Tennessean in March. "It's also a great sports town with a diverse sports fan base and a tremendous amount of interest and demand for combat sports, including MMA."
There are few better places to celebrate a win than Broadway, where Thad Jean intends to become a familiar face following his career-best win over Jason Jackson by split decision in the main event. Jean improved to 10-0 while advancing to the PFL's World Tournament welterweight final against Logan Storley, who also picked up a victory on the card.
PLANT: Nashville-area boxer Caleb Plant shocked in split-decision loss to Armando Resendiz
"I'm going to go to karaoke. I'm going to go singing. I'm going to go dancing," Jean said after the win. "I'm in Nashville ... we're going to be a life of Broadway, not just the bar, (but) Broadway. It's going to be great."
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Harrison Campbell covers combat sports for The Tennessean and high school sports for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @hccamp.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: PFL delivers first punch for Nashville summer fights. UFC, bare knuckle next
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