Monthly Report | August 2025

Murphy entered his fight with Aaron Pico at UFC 319 stationed at No. 6 in the featherweight rankings. He had earned eight straight victories in the UFC, gone undefeated over his first nine appearances inside the Octagon, and sported a 16-0-1 record overall heading into the contest… and he was the underdog.

The 34-year-old Manchester man has been one of the most criminally underrated and under-appreciated fighters on the roster for the past couple years, largely because he favors technique over flash, performance over talking mess, and had rounded out his winning streak with victories over other divisional stalwarts with a similar makeup in Edson Barboza, Dan Ige, and Josh Emmet.

Pico, on the other hand, was making his promotional debut after a scheduled bout with undefeated Russian contender Movsar Evloev in Abu Dhabi went by the boards. The 28-year-old was one of the most hyped prospects in the history of the sport when he first signed with Bellator, and after some struggles early in his career, Pico had put together a 9-1 run heading into his first UFC appearance, where his only loss came as a result of an injury.

He was the new blood, the ballyhooed arrival set to stamp himself as the No. 1 contender and make a case for a championship opportunity against Alexander Volkanovski.

This was a difficult one to decide because Anthony Hernandez’ vicious choke of Roman Dolidze, Joseph Morales’ emotional finish of Alibi Idiris, and Uran Satybaldiev hitting an Ezekiel choke all would have taken home top honors in just about any other month, and yet, it’s Elliott’s finish of Asakura that sits atop the podium.

You know how the Academy Awards sometimes give people Oscars for roles that weren’t their absolute best, but they’re really deserving overall and it just feels like the right time to let them hold that statue and make their speech? This is kind of like that.

Elliott was a part of the flyweight division when it was first introduced in the UFC way back in 2012, signed by the promotion a month after the division debuted in Sydney, Australia. He posted a 2-4 record over his first six appearances, fighting a rugged slate where his losses came to a trio of title challengers — John Dodson, Ali Bagautinov, and Joseph Benavidez — and ex-Bellator champ Zach Makovsky, and was released.

He returned as part of the cast of Season 24 of The Ultimate Fighter, where the winner of the tournament would garner a championship opportunity against Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Elliott won the competition and then gave Johnson one of the more challenging fights of his lengthy reign, and he’s been a fixture in the Top 15 ever since.

This was Smith’s second win already this year and the kind of effort that stamps the recent Dana White’s Contender Series grad as a serious long-range prospect in the bantamweight division.

Honorable Mentions: Rinya Nakamura vs Nathan Fletcher, Uros Medic vs Gilbert Urbina, Joselyne Edwards vs Priscila Cachoeira, Christian Leroy Duncan vs Eryk Anders, Carlos Prates vs Geoff Neal, Murphy vs Aaron Pico, Yizha vs Westin Wilson, Daukaus vs Michel Pereira, Charles Johnson vs Lone’er Kavanagh

Fight of the Month: Chris Duncan and Mateusz Rebecki get after it (UFC Vegas 108)

This was the definition of a slobberknocker, which is officially defined as “a match or contest that is particularly hard-fought or physically aggressive. Also: a violent or severe blow, collision between players. Etc.”

For all 15 minutes of this contest, Duncan and Rebecki landed numerous violent or severe blows, colliding in every corner of the Octagon, blood spilling on the canvas like it was a fresh Pollock, neither man looking to retreat. When the final horn sounded, they looked like they had been through hell — both men split and bloodied, exhaustion mixed with pride smeared across their faces.