MMA
Futures on the line for Murphy and Aspinall in UFC
Published
1 year agoon
(Photo Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)The remaining months of 2025 will see enormous UFC matches for British boxers. Both Leone Murphy, and especially Tom Aspinall, have a lot to lose if they do not win further visits to the Octagon.
On August 16 (early August 17 in Great Britain), he sees the English featherweight of Lrone Murphy, and the novice UFC Aaron Pico at UFC 319, which will take place at the United Center in Chicago, USA.
Murphy is currently sixth in the UFC featherweight division, and another win in August will augment his chances of winning the title against Alexander Volkanovski. However, failure will bring grave hopes for the title.
At this time of year, Murphy could prepare for the fresh football season. He had a trial with Liverpool (although he was born in Trafford), but the knee injury ended his career. It looked as if he became a boxer, but eventually found himself in the MMA world.
His professional debut took place in 2016, initially as featherlight. Two years later he moved to a pencil scale and there Murphy gained his name. In 2019, he became a full contact champion of weight scale, and later he made his debut in UFC this year.
His debut UFC was against Zubair Tukhugov and although he maintained his invincible record, the fight ended in a draw. Murphy did not look at this disappointing result and since then he won eight fights.
He now has a 16-0-1 record and is associated with Movs Evloev for the fourth longest victorious run in the UFC featherweight division. On August 16, he wants to extend his undefeated record against Aaron Pico.
This is a complex UFC debut for Pico, who won his name as a freestyle wrestler and almost reached the 2016 Olympic Games. His MMA career began the following year in Bellator. The American lost his debut, but won another four matches. The year 2019 did not go well with two subsequent defeats (one recently Avenged).
From the next loss in 2022 he won three fights in a row, but it looks like a complex fight against Murphy, which should be able to maintain an invincible record.
The main event at UFC 319 sees the title of UFC of medium weight on the line. Dricus du Plessis defends his belt against the unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev. British Butmakers from offers Follow that changing the title is on the way. They have a enormous plessis at 17/10 to win the fight against the 1/2 claimant to take away the title.
Du Plessis won titles in two other MMA companies before he went to UFC in 2020. Three years later he defeated Robert Whittaker in the last eliminator of the UFC medium weight title. Six months later, he took the title of Sean Strickland and since then he created two successful defense against Israel Adesanya and Strickland, both taking place in Australia. These victories took his professional record to 23-2.
Can it do it 24-2? He faces a complex fight with Chimaev, who won all his 14 professional fights. The Russian debuted in 2018, and four of his first five fights were won in the first round. His debut UFC took place in July 2020. He had to be a man in a hurry, because his second UFC competition had only ten days after his first. There has never been such a tiny return between fights in the company.
He had four night performances in UFC. His victory over Gilbert Burns was announced in 2022. His last victory took place in October last year, when Robert Whittaker surrendered in the first round. Five of his last seven UFC competitions meant that his opponent did not reach the second round.
It was a huge year for Tom Aspinall when he became a heavyweight champion of UFC. He does First defense His title against the Frenchman Ciril Gane on October 25 in Abu Dhabi. Aspinall is a mighty favorite to win the fight against bookmakers offering 1/4 chances of Gane available at 3/1 to cause nervousness.
Aspinall became a fleeting champion in November 2023, when he defeated Sergei Pavlovich in just over a minute. He defended this title in Manchester in July 2024 and in just a minute he got rid of Curtis Blaydes. His shot in the main title never materialized, and when Jon Jones announced his pension in June, Aspinall was promoted to the master.
Gane himself is a former fleeting heavyweight champion, but this is his third attempt to win the full title. He lost to Francis Ngannou in 2022, and Jon Jones the following year. Since then, he won two fights, but with Aspinall his last six fights in the first round, another unsuccessful challenge of the title looks likely.
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Movsar Evloev warns Alexander Volkanovski: He hasnt beaten anyone like me
Published
11 hours agoon
October 23, 2026
Evloev says he has pushed himself harder than ever ahead of his
first UFC title shot.
Evloev (20-0) is scheduled to challenge Alexander
Volkanovski (28-4) for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight title at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Ahead of the
bout, the unbeaten Russian discussed how his preparations have
differed from previous training camps.
Movsar Evloev details toughest training camp ahead of Alexander
Volkanovski title fight at UFC 333
Evloev said he increased his workload across all aspects of
training to address any potential weaknesses. He believes that
preparation will help him showcase his abilities in Saturday's main
event.
“This preparation is different just because I pushed more than
ever,†Evloev said in a pre-fight interview. “And we did more of
everything to make sure we didn't miss anything. He hasn't beaten
anyone like me. There's many things that make me special, like
unique. And I'm about to show it Saturday.â€
Evloev has long been considered a leading featherweight contender,
with Volkanovski acknowledging him as the most deserving
challenger. However, Diego Lopes
received a title rematch against Volkanovski earlier this year
before Evloev earned his opportunity. The Russian's lack of UFC
finishes has fueled debate about his wait for a championship bout,
though the promotion has not established it as the reason for the
delay.
“This is the moment I’ve been waiting for.”
Movsar
Evloev (@MovsarUFC) discusses his journey to the title shot and
his title fight matchup against champ Alexander
Volkanovski @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi |
@ParamountPlus https://t.co/fWuJJ7I2sz— UFC News (@UFCNews)
October 21, 2026
MMA
Joshua Van: Sean Strickland ‘in a bad spot’ in Dana White feud over UFC pay
Published
12 hours agoon
October 23, 2026
Joshua Van sides with UFC boss Dana White in his public feud with Sean Strickland.
For Van, the UFC's flyweight champion, the matter should have been discussed behind closed doors instead of a public forum like social media.
“He just signed a contract in May and fought Khamzat, and then he won,†Van told Outta Pocket. “Instead of going on Twitter and going on all that [expletive], he should have talked to Dana and said, ‘I wanna renegotiate.' Behind closed doors. Then the boss would have been like, ‘OK, let's talk about this, what you want?' You just beat the boogeyman. Now it's a whole mess.â€
“If you work at a 9-to-5 job and you go off to your boss and you're like, pay me this much. Like, what the [expletive]? You know what I mean? So he's in a bad spot right now. He's still under the contract. I don't know how that's gonna work.â€
A 25-year-old flyweight champion who started his professional MMA career when Strickland already had 14 UFC bouts under his belt, Van agrees with Strickland that fighters should get paid more.
However, he doesn't sound unhappy with his current UFC contract. Van recently defended his 125-pound belt with a decision over Alexandre Pantoja, his third title bout win in a span of 10 months, including a fifth-round TKO over Tatsuro Taira in the co-main event of Chimaev vs. Strickland.
“I'm getting paid good,†Van said with a laugh. “I think they pay me good amount; I don't know, but fighter that think they deserve more or—like, should we get paid more? Yes, but, I don't know, I'm happy where I'm at. I start from zero to now, the UFC literally made me where I'm at, gave me everything that I got right now. I don't know, I'm happy right now. I can't really say for the other guy.â€
MMA
UFC 333 prop odds: Krylov-Yakhyaev favored for fastest finish
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