Fighters on the Rise | UFC 319: Du Plessis vs Chimaev

It’s kind of wild to remember that Pico is only 28 years old because if you’ve been following the sport for the last decade, you remember him as a blue-chip prospect forecasted to be one of the sport’s biggest stars. Now eight years removed from his pro debut and 17 fights deep into his career, Pico will make his first walk to the Octagon this weekend against Lerone Murphy in a captivating pairing with loads of significance in the featherweight title picture.

Pico might be the best example of the “you’ve gotta give people time” approach you’ll hear me espouse all the time on this site, as he stumbled in his debut (as a 20-year-old) and was 4-3 through seven fights after back-to-back losses to legitimate title contenders Henry Corrales and Adam Borics. Since then, Pico has gone 9-1 with seven finishes, flashing all the upside and elite talent that he was forecasted to develop early on, with his lone setback coming in a bout with Jeremy Kennedy where he suffered a dislocated shoulder.

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The former Bellator standout has every tool in his tool kit and years of work with Brandon “Six Gun” Gibson means he’s fundamentally sound and crisp with his hands, as evident by his nine knockout wins. He hasn’t extended deep into fights too often, venturing into the third round just four times and going the distance only twice, but some of that is because Pico has a penchant for putting guys away, and no one is ever going to fault him for that.

This weekend, the UFC newcomer gets an opportunity to make a massive statement right out of the gate when he takes on Lerone Murphy. The unbeaten, sixth-ranked featherweight from Manchester has made steady progress up the divisional ranks throughout his UFC tenure, enters off a quality win over Josh Emmett in April, and has nearly as much cage time in his last six bouts (100 minutes and 14 seconds) as Pico has amassed in his entire career (101 minutes and 20 seconds), making him the perfect established name to welcome the Californian to the Octagon for the first time.

Hooper is another prime example of my “give them time” approach, having morphed from a fighting string bean that earned a developmental contract on the second season of Dana White’s Contender Series to a streaking lightweight now that he’s grown up, filled out, and developed as both a fighter and a human being.

This weekend, the 25-year-old from Enumclaw, Washington steps in with Alexander Hernandez in another bout that feels like a chance for the steadily improving, increasingly dangerous Hooper to convince another pocket of the audience that he’s the real deal in the 155-pound weight class.

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All those things that made Hooper intriguing as a teenage prospect back in the summer of 2018 remain key pieces of his repertoire today: he’s still tall and lanky for the division, still has outstanding jiu jitsu, scrambling abilities, and submission attacks, and he’s still tough as shoe leather. Though he had an up and down run during his six featherweight fights at the outset of his UFC career, “The Dream” has gone 5-0 since relocating to lightweight, and he’s absolutely dominated everyone he’s faced. 

In his last two fights, Hooper quickly finished Clay Guida and out-hustled Jim Miller over three rounds, erasing any chance doubters and critics had to point to his strength of schedule as the reason for his recent success, especially when someone as respected as Miller comes away from their clash singing his praises.

Hernandez enters having earned consecutive victories and four straight wins in bouts where he’s made the lightweight limit, with his last loss in the 155-pound weight class coming more than four years ago opposite Thiago Moisés. A strong wrestler with good striking and quality conditioning, “The Great Ape” has proven to be a tough out for anyone at lightweight and profiles as a sharp test for the ascending Hooper on Saturday in Chicago. 

It’s taken some time, but Hooper has developed into a genuine person of interest in the lightweight division, and if he adds to his current winning streak this weekend, more and morepeople are going to start paying attention to the rising star from the Pacific Northwest. 

Bryan Battle

The TUF 29 middleweight winner returns to the 185-pound weight class this weekend in a scintillating showdown with fellow ascending talent Nursulton Ruziboev, looking to maintain the run of form that has produced a five-fight unbeaten streak for “The Butcher” heading into UFC 319.

After beating Gilbert Urbina to win the middleweight tournament in the return season of the long-running reality TV competition back in 2021 and squaring things way with the man he was initially scheduled to meet in the finals, Tresean Gore, Battle moved down to welterweight, posting a 5-1 record with one no contest in seven starts. He’s been largely sharp since his loss to Rinat Fakhretdinov, especially in dominant finishes over Gabriel Green and Kevin Jousset, but the North Carolina native missed weight by a considerable amount last time out against Randy Brown and now ventures back up a division in his 2025 debut.

Where some fighters that go back up a weight class feel out of place, Battle has all the measurables and physical tools to compete in the 185-pound ranks, as he has good height and reach, improved physical strength and conditioning, and his skills have clearly advanced since those first two UFC appearances. He supplemented his usual training at home with an extended trip to Las Vegas, where he got in work with the all-star cast of talents at Xtreme Couture, drawing a sense of confidence from being on the mats and in the cage with the likes of Chris Curtis and former champ Sean Strickland, and should settle in just fine if he ends up making middleweight his long-term home going forward.

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Ruziboev similarly began his UFC run at middleweight before dropping down for one fight at welterweight — a loss to Joaquin Buckley on the scorecards — and then moved back up to post consecutive wins over Eric McConico and Dustin Stoltzfus already this year to move to 4-0 when competing at middleweight in the UFC. The Marquez MMA representative towers over just about everyone in the division and has proven finishing power, so Battle will need to be defensively sound and strategic with his offense if he wants to add another win to his resume.

The 30-year-old is probably best suited to fight at welterweight, and if he can get things squared away with his body and the weight-cutting issues that have hindered him in two of his last five fights, Battle could be a dark horse to track in the 170-pound ranks. If not, he remains a surging talent that has made steady gains over his first four years on the roster, and could very well stamp himself as another emerging threat in the middleweight division if he’s able to get by Ruziboev this weekend.