For the ninth time overall and first since 2019, UFC will set up shop in the city of Chicago on Saturday for a highly-anticipated UFC 319 pay-per-view event.
Dricus du Plessis will aim for the third defense of his UFC middleweight title in the main event when he welcomes unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev.
The undercard features some interesting matchups on Saturday. Most notably, Aaron Pico is set to make his promotional debut when he takes on top prospect Lerone Murphy in the co-main event. Pico has been tabbed for greatness since before he even stepped foot inside a cage of any kind. The former Bellator MMA fighter struggled early in his career as he was put in against top fighters early. But he slowly found his footing and was closing in on title contention before Bellator was bought by PFL and his career stalled. Now, he gets a chance to make a splash in a prime slot.
As we draw closer to this weekend’s action, let’s take a closer look at the biggest storylines.
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1. Dricus du Plessis-Khamzat Chimaev is an A+ matchup that feels very 50/50
With a combined professional record of 37-2 and both fighters currently sitting within the top 10 of CBS Sports’ pound-for-pound rankings, Saturday’s middleweight headliner is truly a battle of middleweight superpowers. Du Plessis (23-2), the 31-year-old from South Africa is 9-0 since making his UFC debut in 2020 and is riding a streak of impressive wins against former champions like Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland (twice) that has allowed him to quickly become one of the promotion’s biggest stars. Chimaev (14-0), on the other hand, who has won all eight of his UFC appearances, can look on any given night like he’s the most dominant fighter in the world. A native of the Russian republic of Chechnya, the 31-year-old Chimaev is a dominant grappler and submission expert who fights in a visibly mean style. This matchup belongs on par with recent fights like Ilia Topuria-Max Holloway in 2024 and Islam Makhachev-Alexander Volknovski I in 2023, pairing P4P mainstays that appeal just as much to the casual audience.
2. Call him lumbering and awkward all you want, but DDP is on a path to true greatness
Who can forget the humorous podcast video that made its way around social media in January when Whittaker sat down on Adesanya’s couch as the pair of legendary former middleweight champions lamented just how different fighting du Plessis can be from what he looks like on tape. From commiserating over his slow hand speed to DDP’s often raw technique, Adesanya went on to say, “He’s just weird, man. He’s like the best shit fighter in the world. He’s so good. I can’t even fault him for it.” That type of reaction must be a relatable feeling for most of the middleweight division. And it’s something that needs to be remembered for those who believe Chimaev will instantly have his way with du Plessis, particularly on the ground. DDP might not be an expert in any one discipline of martial arts, but he’s tough as nails and a true gamer who has proven he can elevate his performance when the lights are the brightest. He’s also an absolute tank of muscle, aggression and never-ending cardio. Few could have predicted upon his UFC debut that du Plessis would only be a few years away from gaining critical respect as one of the P4P best, but he has truly earned it.
3. It’s time for Chimaev’s career to find some much-needed consistency
Despite an unbeaten record and a villainous persona as UFC’s resident “boss at the end of the video game,” Chimaev has had significant trouble fully capitalizing on the initial success he showed upon making his promotional debut in 2020. With three victories — all by dominant stoppage — in the span of just 65 days to kick off his UFC career, some had suggested Chimaev be catapulted into an immediate welterweight title shot due to how much promise he showed. But ever since then, Chimaev has been a model of inconsistency as injuries, illness, VISA issues and a mysterious weight miss (by a stunning 7.5 pounds) ahead of a 2022 Nate Diaz PPV main event that never took place have turned him into an enigma. Chimaev fought just once in three of the last four years and looked human at times in victories over Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman. But every backward step was typically followed by a huge leap, as evidenced by the brutal and brief steamrolling he did of Kevin Holland and Whittaker to remind us of how dangerous he truly is when at full strength. Chimaev said last week he still expects to be the UFC’s first three-division champion and is willing to cut back down to welterweight after he wins the middleweight title this weekend before then moving up to 205 pounds. While those plans fall somewhere between ambitious and delusional, there’s no questioning Chimaev is a special talent with a huge fan base of believers behind him. The fight against DDP gives Chimaev a chance to finally prove he’s as good as advertised.
4. Aaron Pico’s upside remains massive entering long-awaited UFC debut
Considering Pico has been on hard-core MMA fans’ radars for a full decade, it’s crazy to realize that he’s still just 28. Originally hyped as the best prospect in MMA history, Pico signed a contract with Bellator MMA while still in high school before then losing three of his first seven fights in a near-disastrous start to his pro career, which began with a submission loss in 2017 at the age of 20. Key changes to Pico’s personal life and training camp (which included a move to Jackson Wink MMA in New Mexico) brought maturity to Pico’s game as he became less reckless as a boxer and more dependent upon his dominant grappling skills. Pico is now 9-1 since 2020, with the only loss coming due to a shoulder injury he suffered against Jeremy Kennedy in 2022. After PFL purchased the Bellator roster in late 2023, the promotion didn’t know what to do with Pico and proved unable to book him into a huge fight. PFL’s loss became UFC’s gain as Pico was granted his release. Initially, he was set to make his UFC debut against unbeaten Movsar Evloev in a fight that could’ve catapulted Pico to an immediate featherweight title shot with a win. But an injury to Evloev forced Pico to accept the challenge of the undefeated Murphy who is unbeaten in nine trips to the Octagon. With UFC brass understandably high on Pico, a slight betting favorite, there’s no reason why a win over Murphy couldn’t lift him to the top of the division where Volkanovski sits as the king at 145 pounds.
5. Michael Page’s surprising move to middleweight creates interesting Jared Cannonier test
At the age of 38, following a decorated career in Bellator MMA, the exciting, London-born striker known as “MVP” has been a fun addition to the UFC roster, which started with Page splitting a pair of fights at welterweight upon his 2024 debut. But a surprise move up to 185 pounds in February saw Page hand the first defeat to rising prospect Shara “Bullet” Magomedov and led directly to MVP’s return at middleweight this weekend against the hard-hitting former title challenger in Cannonier. At 41, Cannonier proved in his last fight — a fourth-round TKO of Gregory Rodrigues in an all-out slugfest — that he’s still dangerous and capable of winning any fight. The contrast between their striking styles should be fun as the two aging middleweights battle to retain relevance in the division as one of the true sleeper fights on the UFC 319 card.
