On Saturday night, the UFC returned to pay-per-view with UFC 319 at the United Center in Chicago, IL. The card featured several nasty knockout wins and fast-rising star Khamzat Chimaev attempting to win UFC gold for the first time. Let's look at the 10 biggest winners and losers from the much-hyped event.
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Utter domination. That is all you can say about Khamzat Chimaev. He was a sizable favorite going into the bout and proved why. Dricus Du Plessis had absolutely no answers for the young star and was mauled for five rounds. Whle he did not get the finish, "Borz" showed why he is one of the scariest fighters in the UFC right now.
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Du Plessis was a big underdog going into the UFC 319 main event, and he did not prove odds makers wrong. As always, the South African showed tons of toughness and grit, and never lost confidence in himself. However, he was completely overwhelmed by the wave of dominance that is the new champion's wrestling attack. He had no answer for the challenger on Saturday and won't get an immediate rematch after that performance.
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Despite being an elite featherweight, Lerone Murphy was surprisingly an underdog in his UFC 319 clash against newcomer Aaron Pico. While he seemed overwhelmed early, he absolutely quieted all the doubters with one of the best KOs of 2025 in the co-main event. The Englishman should be in line for a title fight in his Octagon return.
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Aaron Pico is a very talented athlete. It is why the world-class wrestler was hyped as the next great star in the sport when he turned pro in 2017. During his career, he has delivered highlight reel moments, for better and worse. The worst showed up again at UFC 319. After looking very good early against Lerone Murphy, he got hit with a nasty spinning back elbow that put him to sleep immediately. He was finished in Round 1 in his MMA debut, and gets similar treatment in his UFC debut.
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Carlos Prates has been outstanding inside the Octagon. While he lost to fellow rising star Ian Machado Garry in April, he fought well and impressed fans. At UFC 319, he was able to bounce back from the setback with a devastating KO win over veteran Geoff Neal. He is now 5-1 in the UFC with all of them being knockouts. The Brazilian is turning into one of the division's most exciting fighters.
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Jared Cannonier has been an elite fighter in the middleweight division for the last five years. However, age is the greatest enemy of fighters, and Father Time never loses. While Cannonier was nearly able to steal a win late against Michael Page, he still came up short. He has now lost three of his last four, and this confirmed his days as a title contender are officially over.
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Former Bellator star Michael Page looked good over the first round and a half of his clash with Jared Cannonier. And it seemed like he might cruise to an easy win. However, his consistent weakness when it comes to his grappling reared its head again on Saturday. While he was able to eke out the victory, he was very close to blowing a big win at UFC 319.
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Kai Asakura had a lot of hype behind him when he entered the UFC last year. When he took an L to reigning champ Alexandre Pantoja in his debut, it was understandable. However, his submission loss to Tim Elliott at UFC 319 was a stunning outcome. It will have many wondering if he is capable of making an impact in the Octagon.
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Veteran flyweight was a sizable underdog heading into his fight Kai Asakura. And early on, those numbers seemed warranted as the Japanese fighter's hand speed was giving him serious trouble. However, he used what made him a star and pushed forward and used his grappling. Eventually, he scored a big takedown and was able to lock in a fight-ending Guillotine choke. It was a massive win for the 38-year-old that should get him back into our UFC flyweight top 10 .
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Jessica Andrade is a UFC strawweight legend. However, like many greats before her, she is in the midst of a nasty career decline. On Saturday night, she was handed a third straight loss by Loopy Godinez. She has now come up short in six of her last eight, and four times she has been finished. At 33, the 41 fight veteran may need to consider retirement or put her long-term health in more jeopardy.
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