Sights, Sounds, Highlights And Bonuses

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – AUGUST 16: Khamzat Chimaev of Russia controls Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa on the mat in the UFC middleweight championship fight during the UFC 319 event at the United Center on August 16, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC)

Zuffa LLC

The UFC put on a stellar show in Chicago on Saturday night and there’s a new king at 185 pounds.

Khamzat Chimaev is the new UFC Middleweight champion, and he did it in the most dominating way possible. For five rounds, Chimaev rag-dolled a massive and sturdy champion in Dricus Du Plessis en route to a decisive victory (50-44 x3).

It was a grappling clinic. The crowd booed loudly during rounds 3–5 and after the fight, but those were boos of ignorance—fans who couldn’t appreciate the artistry from the new champion. No matter, Chimaev is no less champion because of it.

Du Plessis kept fighting and never gave up, but it was clear he had never faced a grappler on this level. Fans should have been booing DDP’s inability to stop the takedown. In any case, there’s a new champion, and this was a stellar card.

Main Card Bouts

• Lerone Murphy def. Aaron Pico (featherweight) via first-round KO

Oh my. That’s all many of us in the media section could say after Murphy completely destroyed Pico in the latter’s highly anticipated UFC debut.

Take a look at the finish.

Murphy appears to have secured a title shot with his epic win and an instant bonus—which seems to be a thing now. Both of the bonuses given on the spot were deserving, and Murphy’s performance was the standout of the night—especially considering he did this in a fight he took on three weeks’ notice.

• Carlos Prates def. Geoff Neal vs. (welterweight) via first-round KO

The Fighting Nerds continue to be arguably the best gym in the sport, and Prates is one of the prized pupils. He walked through Neal and finished him with a devastating spinning elbow at the buzzer.

It was the second of the night and even more savage than the first. Here’s the finish:

Prates was also awarded a Performance Bonus on the spot.

• Michael Page def. Jared Cannonier (middleweight) via unanimous decision (29-28×3)

MVP put on a show without a stoppage. He easily won the first two rounds before poor footing cost him the third. He got the decision, and fans were fired up. The United Center was so loud for him you would have thought he was from Chicago.

• Tim Elliott v.def. Kai Asakura (flyweight) via second-round submission

Asakura is exciting and fearless, but he has a massive gap in skill when it comes to grappling. It was apparent in his loss to Alexandre Pantoja and again on Saturday when Elliott was too much for him with a combination of footwork and grappling.

While the UFC may want Asakura to be a bigger deal, talented flyweights are going to keep taking him down and neutralizing his striking.

Prelims

• Baysangur Susurkaev def. Eric Nolan via second-round submission

Susurkaev might be special. He shook off a hard charge from the game American and finished the deal in the second round.

The loudest moments of the night through the prelims came after the first round. The pop for the first-round flurry that saw Susurkaev wobbled—after he secured a series of takedowns and mat returns—was deafening.

Susurkaev is a potential superstar. He now has two wins in the same week after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday and winning his main roster debut.

He already has a huge following thanks to his affiliation with Chimaev. He’s also building an aura that will have him fighting on the main card sometime soon.

• Michal Oleksiejczuk def. Gerald Meerschaert via first-round TKO

This was a massacre. Oleksiejczuk looked strong, but Meerschaert looked so bad in this fight it stood out more than anything else.

He was even slower than normal, and his takedown attempts were telegraphed and sloppy. It was clear from the beginning it was only a matter of time before Oleksiejczuk got the finish.

Oleksiejczuk’s move to train with the Fighting Nerds has rendered stellar results. That continued on Saturday in Chicago against a seemingly uninspired opponent.

• Loopy Godinez def. Jessica Andrade vs. (women’s strawweight) via unanimous decision

This was a brawl from the start. I thought the judges got it exactly right. Godinez pieced Andrade up for three rounds. If she had more power, she might have gotten the stoppage.

Andrade soldiered on, landing some hard shots of her own—especially to the body. I gave the third round to Andrade, as she seemed to be wearing on Godinez a bit with the pressure. If this were a five-rounder, things might have been different. It was three rounds and a candidate for Fight of the Night.

• Alexander Hernandez def. Chase Hooper vs. (lightweight) via first-round TKO

Hernandez stomped on Hooper’s Cinderella slipper. Just as MMA fans were beginning to buy into Hooper’s chances of becoming a potential title player in the lightweight division, an underachieving 155-pounder sent him crashing to the canvas in the very first frame.

It was a buzzer-beater finish.

• Drakkar Klose def. Edson Barboza vs. (lightweight) via unanimous decision (29-28×3)

The Brazilian legend set things on fire with a WWE-like entrance fueled by aura and Oficina G3’s “Meus Próprios Meios.” That song should come with pyro.

That said, Barboza looks so far past his prime that you have to wonder how much longer this will be worth it for him. His hand speed and head movement looked nearly non-existent after the first round, and he ate some huge shots.

He’s a warrior and kept firing. The crowd noise was definitely back up for this one, but prime Barboza would not eat those same shots from Klose. The unanimous decision in Klose’s favor was the right call, as he landed the harder shots.

• Karine Silva def. Dione Barbosa (women’s flyweight) via unanimous decision (29-28×3)

The ladies mostly drained the air out of a crowd that was seemingly prepped and ready to explode with every huge moment. Unfortunately, neither Silva nor Barbosa delivered the moments the crowd was thirsty to see.

As it was, the judges’ decision drew a bigger response than the fight. The UC crowd booed loudly after Bruce Buffer read the scorecards, which was the loudest moment associated with the fight.

It looked like Barbosa did enough to win, but it was a close, mostly uneventful fight—especially the passive first round.

• Joseph Morales def. Alibi Idiris via second-round submission to win the The Ultimate Fighter

Morales and Idiris got the evening off on a strong note. The two flyweights went to war in an effort to capture this season’s Ultimate Fighter crown. Morales’ ground game and pressure proved too much, and he got the win by submission. Just before the sub, Morales hurt Idiris with a body shot that pressed the fight out of his opponent.