Aaron Pico's long-awaited UFC debut came with the possibility of an immediate title shot with a win. Instead, the former uber prospect and Bellator MMA star was knocked out cold in spectacular and violent fashion at UFC 319 in Chicago .

The featherweight bout was discussed as being a potential title eliminator to face Alexander Volkanovski. Murphy may have solidified that shot by knocking out Pico at 3:21 of the opening round.

In the third fight of the main card, Carlos Prates hammered Geoff Neal with a spinning back elbow to the head for a KO in the final second of the first round. Neal was barely responsive on the floor as Prates began celebrating. It was the ninth spinning back elbow KO in UFC history, and Prates' UFC-best fifth KO since the start of 2024.

Du Plessis is 23-2 as a pro but hasn't lost in his nine-fight UFC stint, racking up wins over former kingpins Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland (twice) along t

MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Friday's official UFC 305 fighter weigh-ins, which kick off at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT). The early weigh-ins take place at the UFC host hotel in Perth, Australia,

Tomorrow night right here in Chicago, UFC 319 goes down and it’s looking like the most highly anticipated card of […]