A former UFC fighter wonders if Dana White enjoyed Aaron Pico’s devastating debut setback in Chicago.
Before Khamzat Chimaev dethroned Dricus du Plessis to become the new middleweight champion in the main event, the UFC 319 main card featured some brutal finishes and shocking moments.
That included Lerone Murphy’s knockout against Aaron Pico in the co-headliner. After Carlos Prates had slept Geoff Neal with a spinning back elbow, ‘The Miracle’ used the same move to spoil Pico’s debut in devastating fashion.
The result came in a fight that saw the former Bellator standout immediately thrown into the deep end in the UFC, and one of the promotion’s ex-fighters sees an ulterior motive behind such ‘sink or swim’ bookings.
Ex-UFC fighter shares theory on how Dana White books new signings
Pico marked the latest name to jump ship from the PFL to the UFC following the former’s acquisition of Bellator in late 2023. He’s joined the likes of Patricio Pitbull and Patchy Mix on MMA’s biggest stage, and his arrival was no more successful than his longtime colleagues.
While Pitbull lost to Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314, Mix was dominated by Mario Bautista at UFC 316. Like those two, Pico was also handed top-10 competition on debut in the form of the undefeated Murphy.
The result was not what the American had envisioned, but in the eyes of ex-UFC heavyweight Zac Pauga, it might have been what Dana White and his fellow UFC higher-ups had intended.
“I feel like the UFC brought over all these Bellator/PFL/and Rizen guys and immediately gave them hard fights just to flex on the other promotions,” Pauga wrote on X shortly before Pico was slept by the 17-0 Murphy.
UFC 319’s main card opener saw ex-Rizin champ Kai Asakura fall to 0-2 in the UFC. His submission defeat to Tim Elliott came after his failed attempt at immediately dethroning champion Alexandre Pantoja last December, marking another example of a new signing perhaps being thrown to the wolves.
And it seems many in the fanbase agree with the former UFC fighter’s take.
“Makes sense.”
“I was thinking no way the talent (in) UFC is this lopsided, your take makes more sense.”
“You can see Dana smile every time one of them loses.”
“I completely agree with that.”
“That is exactly the case.”
Lerone Murphy’s KO against Aaron Pico could propel him to the UFC featherweight title
While Aaron Pico will return to the drawing board and can perhaps expect a lesser assignment for his second UFC fight, the brutal result at UFC 319 looks to have strapped a rocket ship to the back of Murphy.
Murphy endured a four-year UFC finish drought prior to Saturday’s event. With some pointing to that as a factor that could affect his title charge, the Englishman certainly rectified that in a major way.
And ‘The Miracle’ looks likely to be rewarded for it, as Alexander Volkanovski named Murphy as his next challenger immediately after the UFC 319 co-main event’s conclusion.
“See you in December @LeroneMurphy congrats #ufc319,” Volkanovski wrote on X.
