Britain’s Murphy stakes title claim with sensational knockout

Britain’s Lerone Murphy thrust his name into the featherweight title picture by knocking Aaron Pico out in sensational fashion at UFC 319 in Chicago, Illinois.

The 34-year-old, who took the fight on three week’s notice, ended the bout with a stunning spinning back elbow in the first round.

Victory extended Murphy’s winning start to his career to 17 as he called for a title bout with Australian champion Alexander Volkanovski.

“This sport’s all about moments and I just created one,” said Murphy.

“I needed something like this. I took the fight on three weeks’ notice, I believed in myself, I knew the opportunity was there. I’m next in line – let’s go Volkanovski.”

Murphy’s win followed fellow Briton Michael ‘Venom’ Page’s victory over middleweight Jared Cannonier earlier on the card.

Page, nicknamed MVP, outpointed Cannonier in trademark fashion with the American unable to deal with his speed and elusiveness.

In the main event, Russia’s Khamzat Chimaev delivered one of the most dominant performances in UFC history as he beat South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight title.

Chimaev landed a remarkable 529 strikes to Du Plessis’ 45 and controlled over 21 minutes of the bout on the ground as all three judges scored it 50-44 in his favour.

Manchester’s Murphy came into the bout with Pico sixth in the UFC’s featherweight rankings after winning eight successive fights in the promotion.

Despite his winning streak, Murphy’s reserved personality in comparison to some of his brash peers means he has sometimes failed to get the credit he deserves for his work in the octagon.

A lack of highlight reel moments, with Murphy earning five straight decision wins before facing Pico, also affected his star power.

But that all changed with his stunning knockout of Pico.

The American, who was making his UFC debut after building a daunting reputation in Bellator where he won 13 of 17 bouts, started strongly.

He applied the early pressure, landing combinations and takedowns with Murphy struggling to get off the back foot.

But after navigating the first three minutes, Murphy used Pico’s forward motion against him as he span around, landing a crisp elbow to deliver the knockout and send the American crashing to the floor.

“Pico is good, that’s the hardest first minutes I’ve ever had. But he was too aggressive and I used his aggression against him,” said Murphy.

UFC president Dana White often praises fighters who step up on short notice and he showed his appreciation immediately after the contest by granting Murphy a $50,000 (£36,900) performance-of-the-night bonus.

UFC commentator and former heavyweight and light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier later tipped Murphy for a title shot.

“It’s Lerone Murphy next because of what he did, landing the spinning elbow like that. Everyone else can wait in line,” said Cormier.

Page’s win over Cannonier represented the 38-year-old’s second in a row at middleweight and third in four UFC bouts since joining the promotion at the end of 2023.

Page knocked down Cannonier in the first and second round in a typically entertaining display, combining speed, footwork and distance management with showboating.

The crowd cheered ‘MVP’ as he taunted Cannonier throughout and the judges scored the contest 29-28 in Page’s favour.

Page said pre-fight he was on his “last lap in MMA” and targeting an elusive world title, and victory over ninth-ranked Cannonier moves him a step closer to his goal.

Chimaev, 31, is one of the UFC’s most exciting talents and long been predicted to become a champion.

He came into the bout with Du Plessis, who was making the third defence of his belt, unbeaten after winning the first 14 fights of his career but his momentum had been stifled over the past two years.

Chimaev fought just once in 2023 and once again in 2024 after illness and injuries led to a number of cancelled fights.

He also suffered visa issues, due to his ties to controversial Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, which prevented him from fighting in the United States.

After crediting President Donald Trump for securing his visa, he returned to the US as the favourite to beat Du Plessis but few could have predicted how dominant it would be.

Chimaev took Du Plessis down every round at will, with the South African having no answer to his grappling.

Such was Chimaev’s supremacy, his 529 strikes marked a UFC record for a single fight.

His 21 minutes and 40 seconds of control time, meanwhile, was the second most in a UFC bout after Sean Sherk recorded 22 minutes and 18 seconds against Hermes Franca in 2007.