New co-main event announced for UFC 319 event
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
New co-main event announced for UFC 319 event
Aaron Pico will fight Lerone Murphy in the co-main event of UFC 319. Pico was originally scheduled to fight Movar Evloev in Abu Dhabi, but Evloeva withdrew. Murphy is 16-0-1, with the draw coming back in 2019 in his UFC debut vs. Zubaira Tukhugov.
Pico was expected to meet Movar Evloev this past weekend when the UFC went over to Abu Dhabi, but Evloev withdrew from the fight. Instead of trying to keep Pico on that card, officials moved him to the August 16 event in Chicago, Illinois from the United Center.
MORE: Reinier de Ridder with a big win over former UFC champion Robert Whittaker
A former Bellator fighter, Pico signed with the UFC after Bellator was acquired by the PFL. He owns a record of 13-4 as a pro, which includes a 9-1 run. The lone loss during that stretch was when he suffered a shoulder injury vs. Jeremy Kennedy.
Murphy is 16-0-1, with the draw coming back in 2019 in his UFC debut vs. Zubaira Tukhugov. Since, he is 8-0, including an April decision over Josh Emmett to follow up a win over Dan Ige.
UFC 319 features Dricus du Plessis defending his middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev along with previously announced fights between Geoff Neal and Carlos Prates, Jared Cannonier and Michael Page, and Tim Elliott and Kai Asakura.
MORE COMBAT SPORTS NEWS:
Ex-UFC star has ‘no idea’ why Aaron Pico took UFC 319 debut against undefeated contender
Former Bellator star Aaron Pico is one of the brightest prospects we’ve seen in recent memory. The 28-year-old is 13-4 (9 KO) as a pro and is a former amateur golden gloves boxing champion. Pico signed to the UFC earlier this year and was supposed to debut against the undefeated #1 contender Movsar Evloev at UFC Abu Dhabi this weekend. On Saturday, the UFC announced a new opponent and date for Pico. He will now face the 16-0 Lerone Murphy at UFC 319 on Aug. 16, in Chicago, Illinois—the co-main event to middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev. Former Strikeforce Champion and UFC lightweight Josh Thomson thinks Pico might have made a mistake going up against Murphy.
Former Bellator star Pico is one of the brightest prospects we’ve seen in recent memory. The 28-year-old is 13-4 (9 KO) as a pro and is a former amateur golden gloves boxing champion and medalist in freestyle wrestling. Pico turned his career around after suffering a massive upset loss in his MMA debut.
Pico signed to the UFC earlier this year and was supposed to debut against the undefeated #1 contender Movsar Evloev at UFC Abu Dhabi this weekend. Unfortunately, Evloev withdrew and on Saturday, the UFC announced a new opponent and date for Pico.
Pico will now face the 16-0 Lerone Murphy at UFC 319 on Aug. 16, in Chicago, Illinois—the co-main event to middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev.
A former fighter doesn’t understand why Pico accepted this fight.
Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images
Josh Thomson says Lerone Murphy ‘tougher fight’ for Aaron Pico than Movsar Evloev
England’s Murphy is primarily a striker, a totally different style matchup than the grappling-heavy Evloev.
Murphy is ranked five spots below Evloev and hasn’t yet cracked the top-5 despite defeating perennial contender Josh Emmett in his first main event in April. Murphy’s undefeated at 16-0-1 and he has eight straight wins in the UFC.
Former Strikeforce Champion and UFC lightweight Josh Thomson thinks Pico might have made a mistake going up against Murphy.
“I have no idea why you took this fight,” Thomson said of Pico on the Weighing In Podcast.
MORE BLOODY ELBOW NEWS
“You went from Evloev, who’s basically considered to be the number one contender.
“Stylistically, this is a tough fight,” Thomson said of new opponent Murphy.
“I’m not saying that Aaron can’t win this fight. This is a tougher fight for him than the Evloev fight. I wanted to see the Evloev fight because the two of them can wrestle. The boxing favors Pico a little bit.
“That’s the fight that I always wanted to see, so I’m being sour right now,” Thomson continued.
“But the Lerone Murphy fight, to me, Pico’s gonna have to close that distance. He cannot let Lerone Murphy stay on the outside. He’s got to close that distance, get in there. I think he has the opportunity to take him down, but he’s gonna take some shots coming in…”
Movsar Evloev could potentially get next title shot
19-0 as a pro and 9-0 in the UFC, it’s getting pretty hard to deny Movsar Evloev of a title opportunity.
The #1 UFC featherweight contender is coming off wins over former champion Aljamain Sterling, Arnold Allen and Diego Lopes, who fought and lost to Alexander Volkanovski for the title at UFC 314 in April.
One of the only things that has prevented Evloev from a title opportunity is likely his lack of finishes, with all nine of his UFC victories coming by way of decision.
Still, the champion Volkanovski has vouched for Evloev to be his next challenger on multiple occasions.