UFC 319 Du Plessis vs Chimaev Recap

Published: Thursday, August 21, 2025

by Oren Mouton

Fight fans from all over the world gathered in the Windy City this past Saturday for the first time in six years to see the most highly anticipated fight of the year to date. Dricus “Stillknocks” Du Plessis took on Khamzat “Borz” Chimaev in an attempt to defend his belt and bring his title back to South Africa. With that said, Saturday night did not go as planned for the champ.  

In one of the most dominant championship fights we’ve ever seen, Chimaev won the middleweight title via Unanimous Decision (50-44). Chimaev, who suffered little damage in his title bout, will look to make a quick turnaround at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi. 

For now, the former champion, Du Plessis, who also received little damage, could rest or make a quick turnaround to fight a top contender before the year's end. 

In the co-main event of the evening, we saw Lerone “The Miracle” Murphy have a knockout of the year candidate versus Aaron Pico, winning via spinning elbow, the second of the night.

Murphy, who took this fight on short notice after Movsar Evloev pulled out of his bout against Pico, made a statement that was much needed for the still undefeated Englishman Lerone Murphy, now moving to 17-0, calling out the Featherweight champion of the world, Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski. 

After taking the loss in his UFC debut, Pico will now look to fight lower in the rankings and try to build his name in the promotion.  

In the featured bout of the night, Carlos “The Nightmare” Prates walked off Geoff Neal and knocked him out cold via spinning elbow in another KO of the year contender. Prates, in his first bout back in the octagon after his fight with Ian Gary, reminded fans of his knockout power by finishing Neal at the end of the first round. 

After the fight, he called for a fight with Leon Edwards on the UFC Brazil card in October. Neal will be out until next year after being knocked out for the first time in his pro career. 

Michael “Venom” Page defeated Jared “Killa Gorilla” Cannonier via unanimous decision, and MVP pieced Cannonier on the feet at range. Throughout the fight, Jared attempted to incorporate his grappling into the fight, but MVP defended very well and continued to keep his range. 

MVP doesn’t know if he will return at 185 or 170, but either way, with this win, he will receive a high-profile fight. As for Jared, he is old and looked a bit slow in there this time around, but he is not retiring, so he will fight younger prospects in the division. 

Tim Elliot submitted Kai Asakura via guillotine and this was nothing short of a crafty veteran win for Elliot, to which he followed it up by calling out Steve Erceg, so we could see that bout next. Unfortunately, this is a disappointing loss for Kai Asakura, who came over from Rizin as a huge champion, star, and one of the best strikers in MMA. 

However, he is 0-2 since coming into the UFC, losing his first fight to the champion Alexandre Pantoja, which there's no shame in that. Asakura, being 7 years younger than Elliot, was winning up until that point where he was submitted. It’s a disappointing outcome, and he is now unranked. 

The head preliminary bout featured a fighter who turned heads on Dana White’s Contender Series and stepped in on short notice, being Baisangur Susurkaev, and he battled the New Jersey native Eric Nolan. Susurkaev was able to turn heads in Chicago, submitting Nolan in the second round via rear-naked choke. 

He will certainly continue to ride this momentum with his first win in the UFC. With this also being Nolan’s UFC debut, he will certainly have a career in the promotion as he looked promising on the feet in the first round. 
 
Michal “Hussar” Oleksiejczuk knocked out “GM3” Gerald Meerschaert in the first round. GM3 tried to incorporate his grappling, failing to do so, going 0/3 on takedowns, and he gassed out, leading to Oleksiejczuck taking the advantage and getting the knockout. 

Loopy Godinez won via unanimous decision (29-28) over former champion Jessica “Bate Estaca” Andrade. This win means a lot for Loopy as it propels her up the rankings to #6 from #11. Andrade is getting older, and she most likely does not have too much time left. 

Alexander “The Great Ape” Hernandez won via knockout versus Chase “The Dream” Hooper. Hooper struggled in this fight without being able to put the pressure on with his takedowns. He was left on his feet against Hernandez and slowly got picked apart, getting caught with a straight right hand that put him to sleep. 

Drakkar Klose won via unanimous decision over legendary veteran Edson “Junior” Barboza. Klose was not afraid to get in scrappy exchanges with Barboza at range, and it is what won him the fight. Barboza does not have much left in the tank, as unfortunately he is 39 at lightweight, so if he loses again, there is a world where he lays the gloves down. 

Karine “Killer” Silva won via unanimous decision over Dione “The Witch” Barbosa. If you like a fight with a lot of grappling, then this is the fight for you. Two active Brazilian grapplers made it a nice fight, but even though Silva had less control time, she did more with her control time. 

Barbosa lacking the ability to get big shots to inflict some visible damage hurt her in the long run, and she will look to bounce back soon. 

In the first fight of the night for the TUF finale, Joseph “Bopo” Morales won via triangle choke versus Alibi Idiris as a huge underdog. Morales, fighting twice in 14 days (and winning twice), could get booked again quickly or decide to rest for a while after making the quick turnaround to fight in Chicago. 

As for Idiris, this is his first professional MMA loss, so he will be back, as he is one of the only up-and-coming Kazakhstani prospects. 

Oren Mouton can be reached at oren.mouton@student.shu.edu.

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