UFC 319 was a real treat. It was filled with matchups that nicely blended stakes and potential for action. We had Tim Elliott versus a former RIZIN champion, MVP looking to keep rising up the ranks in his new division, the return of Fighting Nerd Carlos Prates and the debut of highly touted free agent Aaron Pico. All of that capped off by one of the most anticipated stylistic clashes in Dricus Du Plessis facing off with undefeated boogey man Khamzat Chimaev. It looked fun on paper, and it delivered. Now let’s look at what’s next.
Khamzat Chimaev
The UFC 319 main event may not have been the barnburner people were hoping for when this matchup got announced, but it was total domination from the Chechen fighter. Dricus Du Plessis did his best to survive every round, but that is all he could do: survive.
Chimaev was seen as a future champion all the way back in 2020 when he first burst onto the scene. Five belt changes and a lot of bumps in the road later, Borz is finally here, and we learned that he was inevitable. If a physical brute like Du Plessis got handled like that, it’s hard to see anyone in that division survive that storm. On the flipside, it’s exciting to see how many surging contenders the middleweight division has. From the upcoming Paris main event to the streaking Reinier de Ridder and the dark horse Anthony Hernandez, Chimaev won’t be lacking in contenders wanting their shot at solving his wrestling prowess.
Dana White said at the press conference that he’s looking to book Chimaev at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi. The newly crowned champion then voiced his interest in doing so after saying he didn’t suffer any injuries during the fight. I thought the winner of the Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho fight would be the most deserving contender, but if Chimaev is really gonna make a two-month turnaround, I doubt the UFC will wait for the winner of a fight going down in September. To me, this opens the door to Reinier de Ridder, who’s been incredibly active and would certainly sign up for a fight in October.
Chimaev’s next fight: Reinier de Ridder
Lerone Murphy
Despite his eight-fight win streak against names like Edson Barboza, Dan Ige and Josh Emmett, there didn’t seem to be a ton of momentum behind the unbeaten Lerone Murphy. Not unlike Movsar Evloev, the ‘0’ on the record didn’t look as sexy as it usually does due to performances deemed boring by fans. This explains why someone ranked 6th would be tasked with a short notice assignment against the highly sought after free agent Aaron Pico. For the same reason that the UFC initially booked Pico against Evloev, the promotion may have been looking to kill off one of their less interesting contenders by hoping that Pico would beat them.
Well, if that spinning back elbow wasn’t exactly what the doctor ordered for Murphy, nothing is. A first-round highlight-reel, KO of the Year contender that left the UFC’s shiny new toy unconscious on the ground. Now winner of 9 straight, the champion Alexander Volkanovski tweeted to Murphy that he will be seeing him in December. Even though I believe Evloev to be the most deserving contender, it’s hard not to see Murphy getting the next shot after this.
Murphy’s next fight: Alexander Volkanovski
Carlos Prates
After becoming the first of the main four Fighting Nerds to suffer a loss, Carlos Prates had his fight against Geoff Neal rebooked and he looked like he had something to prove. A perfect bounce back performance from The Nightmare who showed an even more refined arsenal in the 4:59 he spent in there with Neal. A buzzer-beating spinning back elbow to the temple put the final touches on a round where Prates looked like the unstoppable force he was last year. Prates then called for a fight in Brazil and eyed the card in Rio on October 11th. He called out Leon Edwards, and though I don’t know that the Englishman is the type to take a fight on less than two months’ notice, I’m not against putting Prates in the co-main event slot. I think a fight that makes more sense than the #4 Edwards, is #8 Joaquin Buckley. New Mansa is no stranger to taking fights on relatively short notice and seems to welcome all the smoke. It’s a matchup that is sure to bring fireworks to Rio.
Prates’ next fight: Joaquin Buckley
Michael Page
After his jump to middleweight against Shara Bullet was successful, Michael Venom Page chose to stay at 185. His second test was against top 10 ranked Jared Cannonier at UFC 319. A career welterweight against a former heavyweight and strangely enough, it was Page who looked bigger inside the cage. Page had a hard time dealing with Cannonier’s top pressure in the third round, but his speed and movement were enough to land a knock down in each of the first two rounds and leave with the victory. The uncertainty of his ability to deal with the size of the middleweights is still too present to push him towards a title shot, so I suggest we test MVP once more. We can kill two birds with one stone by auditing both Robert Whittaker and Page if we match them together. There is apparently a card in Australia in the works for next winter, this sounds like a fine main or co-main event to me.
Page’s next fight: Robert Whittaker
Tim Elliott
Crafty as ever, the 38-year-old off a 20-month layoff just submitted a former RIZIN champion. With that win, Elliott is now 6-2 in his last 8 since his three-fight skid at the turn of the decade. While Elliott has often been seen as nothing but a gatekeeper who had a good night against Demetrious Johnson, his recent stretch includes wins over names like Sumudaerji, Tagir Ulanbekov and now Kai Asakura. I think the veteran is now deserving of a name ranked above him. Just last week, I had Steve Erceg matched up against Alex Perez after his win over Ode’ Osbourne, but this win by Elliott made me change my mind. As mentioned, there are rumours floating of a card in Australia in February, why not give Elliott a top10 name like Astroboy?
Elliott’s next fight: Steve Erceg
