New co-main event announced for UFC 319 event
Pico was expected to meet Movar Evloev this past weekend when the UFC went over to Abu Dhabi, but Evloev withdrew from the fight. Instead of trying to keep Pico on that card, officials moved him to the August 16 event in Chicago, Illinois from the United Center.
MORE: Reinier de Ridder with a big win over former UFC champion Robert Whittaker
A former Bellator fighter, Pico signed with the UFC after Bellator was acquired by the PFL. He owns a record of 13-4 as a pro, which includes a 9-1 run. The lone loss during that stretch was when he suffered a shoulder injury vs. Jeremy Kennedy.
Murphy is 16-0-1, with the draw coming back in 2019 in his UFC debut vs. Zubaira Tukhugov. Since, he is 8-0, including an April decision over Josh Emmett to follow up a win over Dan Ige.
UFC 319 features Dricus du Plessis defending his middleweight title against Khamzat Chimaev along with previously announced fights between Geoff Neal and Carlos Prates, Jared Cannonier and Michael Page, and Tim Elliott and Kai Asakura.
MORE COMBAT SPORTS NEWS:
UFC 320 ticket prices revealed
How much are tickets for next Noches UFC event?
Tom Aspinall received first heavyweight title defense date, opponent
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
27 minutes ago
- USA Today
Khamzat Chimaev responds to Sean Strickland's trash talk: 'I'm in L.A., bro'
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Khamzat Chimaev welcomes Sean Strickland to confront him face-to-face now that he's in the U.S. Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC), who spent time training with Chimaev (14-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) several years ago at Xtreme Couture, went off on him by accusing him of picking on weaker guys at the gym. "Chimaev is just a f*cking c*nt," Strickland told Red Corner MMA. "I was here when he retired from COVID. I was training with him. He's just a f*cking c*nt. There are guys if you knew on a personal level, you wouldn't like. Chimaev is one of these people if you knew, you wouldn't like. "There's a video of me, and I was like, 'Oh, you're so good.' I'm being sarcastic. You go and f*cking starch this 1-1 guy, when there's like Edmen (Shahbazyan), there's high-level UFC fighters, and you're picking the 1-1 fighter because you think he's the same height as your opponent. No, you're picking him because you're a b*tch, dude. He can fight, but mentally, he's just a weak man." Ahead of his title fight against middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) on Aug. 16 in the UFC 319 headliner from United Center in Chicago, Chimaev responded to Strickland's comments. "When I was there, he never said anything," Chimaev told reporters of Strickland at a media day. "When I left Las Vegas, when they stopped my visa, he started to talk. When I came back, I'm in L.A., bro. Come on. If it's something personal for you, just come. I'm here. Whenever he wants."
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Stars who suited up for the Bears past their prime
When I was bumbling around on Twitter/X the other day, I came across this one tweet that caught my eye. Celtics Shaq. That one Kevin Garnett Brooklyn Nets edit to 'Outstanding' by The Gap Band. However you want to refer to it, it's a term that refers to a big-name athlete playing for a new team past their prime. I was thinking about responding to this tweet, but I couldn't decide on just one person to pick for the Bears. When you're the oldest team in the NFL, you're going to have your fair share of big names on the roster, even if those big names weren't all in their prime when they played for Chicago. As a fun trip down memory lane before the new season, here are a few former Chicago Bears players in the 21st century with tremendous peaks who suited up for the team past their prime. DE Jared Allen When the Bears signed Jared Allen to a four-year deal in 2014, expectations were very high. He was just coming off of an 11.5-sack season in Minnesota, and he had reached a double-digit sack total in seven consecutive seasons to that point. Considering how bad Chicago's defense was in 2013, Allen was meant to serve as a major upgrade for their pass rush. Unfortunately, things didn't play out the way either side had hoped. Allen dealt with a bout of pneumonia early in the season that saw him lose 18 pounds. That surely put a damper on his level of play, and he finished the year with 5.5 sacks. That had been the lowest total of his career to that point. Once the Bears changed from a 4-3 base defense to a 3-4 in 2015, the writing was on the wall. Allen played three games in 2015 and got traded to Carolina soon after. He joked about his stint in Chicago during his Hall of Fame induction speech recently, so there are clearly no hard feelings. Given how tremendous his career was and given his recent enshrinement into Canton, I like to think that things ended up okay for him in the end. WR Santonio Holmes Perhaps best known as the Steelers' savior in their Super Bowl XLIII victory, Santonio Holmes made quite the name for himself for his stellar play in Pittsburgh. After spending four years there and another four years with the Jets, Holmes signed a one-year contract with the Bears in 2014. At that time, they had a dominant wide receiver duo in Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall but lacked a formidable third wide receiver. The hope was that Holmes could provide that stability, even if his numbers weren't as strong at that stage as they were in his prime. He ended up starting early in the season but slowly saw his role cut down, playing in just nine games before he was released. He ended the year with just eight receptions for 67 yards. WR Victor Cruz Victor Cruz was one of the best feel-good stories in the NFL in the early 2010s. An undrafted free agent out of UMass, Cruz signed with the Giants in 2010 and became an All-Pro wide receiver in just his second year in the league. He finished 2011 with 82 catches for 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns, and he followed that up with a combined 2,090 receiving yards the following two seasons. However, a torn patellar tendon in 2014 ended Cruz's season six games into the year, and an aggravation of that injury leading up to 2015 saw him miss the entirety of that year, too. He would return to the Giants' starting lineup in 2016, but by that point, the injury had slowed him down. He signed with the Bears in 2017, being expected to compete for a roster spot on a team that was thin at the wide receiver position. In the end, Cruz wouldn't end up making it through the preseason. Fun fact: I saw Cruz perform his signature salsa dance celebration when he scored a touchdown at Family Fest in 2017. That was cool to witness in a Bears uniform. RB Lamar Miller Throughout the 2010s, Lamar Miller was one of the more consistent backs in the NFL. He surpassed 850 rushing yards every year from 2014 to 2018, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark twice in that span. Between stints in Miami and Houston, he was a starting NFL back for much of the decade. That changed after a torn ACL in the preseason ended his 2019 season. Miller was 29 years old in 2020, which is young for any normal person but may as well be 105 for a running back. Coming off the injury, he signed with the Patriots but didn't make the 53-man roster. The Bears signed him to their practice squad soon after, activating him in Week 10 when David Montgomery got hurt. Miller caught two passes for six yards in his lone game as a Bear. He reverted back to the practice squad after that week, and Washington signed him to their 53-man roster off Chicago's practice squad a few weeks later. OT Orlando Pace Orlando Pace will go down as one of the most prolific offensive linemen from his era. A seven-time Pro Bowler and a starter of 154 games in 12 seasons with the St. Louis Rams, Pace was the blindside protector for the Greatest Show on Turf. By 2009, his status as a future Hall of Famer was already set in stone for his working protecting Kurt Warner and Marc Bulger. However, he signed a three-year deal with the Bears to give new quarterback Jay Cutler an experience offensive lineman up front. Pace started off the 2009 season as Chicago's starting left tackle, a role he held for 11 games before getting hurt. He turned 34 years old that season, and his age had been showing throughout the season. Granted, season-ending injuries in 2006 and 2007 with the Rams played a role in accelerating that timeline. When Pace returned from injury, Chris Williams took his spot in Chicago's starting lineup. Honorable mention for this goes to Jason Peters, who started in 15 games for the Bears in 2021 and performed admirably well for a 39-year-old lineman. S Antrell Rolle In 2015, the Bears hired Ryan Pace as their new general manager. One of his big projects was the rebuilding of a lackluster defense. Some additions like Eddie Goldman and Adrian Amos helped significantly. Others like Pernell McPhee showed mixed results. Then, there was Antrel Rolle, who was initially expected to play a major role in Chicago's secondary. Rolle was a three-time Pro Bowler and a two-time All-Pro known for his tremendous ball skills. Just two years before, he was an All-Pro safety with six interceptions for the Giants in 2013. However, Rolle dealt with a sprained ankle that forced him to miss a few games in 2015 before returning and suffered a season-ending MCL sprain just two games later. QB Kordell Stewart Before Ben Roethlisberger, there was Kordell Stewart. The latter served as Pittsburgh's starting quarterback from 1997 to 2001, starting a handful of games in 2002, as well. He went 46-29 as the Steelers' starter, making the Pro Bowl in 2001. He was an elite athlete at the quarterback position who was arguably ahead of his time, seeing as though mobility is now a bigger priority for quarterbacks these days. Stewart fell back down to Earth in 2002 and got benched in favor of Tommy Maddox. The Bears signed Stewart in 2003 and kicked off the year with him as their starting quarterback. He was eventually benched twice: once for Chris Chandler early in the year, and once for Rex Grossman later down the stretch. Stewart went 2-5 as Chicago's starter, finishing with just a 50.2% completion percentage and only seven passing touchdowns to 12 interceptions. The kickers Before Robbie Gould and during that period between him and Cairo Santos, the Bears had plenty of instability at the kicker position in the 21st century. Here are just a few kickers Chicago had suit up for them past their prime: Jay Feely: At 38 years old, Feely signed with the Bears in 2014 when Gould injured his quad. Feely played in four games, going 3-for-4 on field goal attempts and 5-for-6 on extra points. He had been a 14-year veteran at that point, and considering how bad the 2014 season was for Chicago, I wouldn't blame fans for blocking that year out entirely. Doug Brien: Brien was a 12-year veteran and a Super Bowl champion kicker in 2005, having been signed by the Bears to be their replacement for Paul Edinger. He played in three games that year, going a brutal 1-for-4 on field goal attempts. He suffered an injury in Week 3, upon which Chicago signed Gould in free agency. The rest is history. Mike Nugent: The Bears went through three kickers in 2017. Connor Barth kicked off the year as the starter, but he got cut after a 68.8% field goal percentage that year, including a missed would-be game-winner the day before his release. Chicago brought in Cairo Santos, but he got hurt. Soon after, Nugent was the kicker they ended up with. He was a 13-year veteran at that point and played in just four games for the Bears, going 4-for-4 on field goals and 7-for-9 on PATs. Olindo Mare: Gould suffered another injury in 2012, straining his left calf and missing the final three games of the year. He was replaced by Mare, who was 39 at the time and had been an NFL starting kicker since 1997. Mare went 6-for-8 on field goal tries and made all seven on his PAT attempts. He beat out Billy Cundiff and Neil Rackers for the opportunity, both of whom being tremendous choices for this list if either of them won the tryout competition.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
UFC 319 commentary, broadcast teams set: Dustin Poirier's first post-retirement assignment
The ninth numbered UFC event of 2025 is just days away, with UFC 319 set to highlight the promotion's return to Illinois after more than six years with Saturday's card at United Center in Chicago. As always, some marquee on-air talent will be there in "The Windy City" to help guide viewers through the experience. Details of who will be working as commentators and analysts for the show have been acquired by MMA Junkie through a person with knowledge of the plans – and you can see the scheduled broadcast team below. UFC 319 broadcast UFC 319's main card airs on pay-per-view/streams via ESPN+ pay-per-view for residents in the U.S. beginning at 10 p.m. ET. The preliminary-card lineup is slated to begin at 8 p.m. ET and airs on ESPN following early prelims, which begin at 6 p.m. ET and stream on ESPN+. UFC 319 roving reporter UFC correspondent Charly Arnolt will conduct pre and post-fight interviews backstage with some of the athletes on the UFC 319 card, as well as report additional real-time updates for the event. UFC 319 weigh-in show Dan Hellie will host the official UFC 319 weigh-in show on Friday at 9:50 a.m. ET/6:50 a.m. PT. He'll be joined by UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman and retired former WEC light heavyweight champion Brian Stann. UFC 319 octagon announcer The most famous octagon announcer in history will do his thing once again at UFC 319 as legendary Bruce Buffer will introduce the fighters before battle. UFC 319 desk analysts Brendan Fitzgerald will host the desk for the official UFC 319 post-fight show and analysis throughout the event. Retired light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith, three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen, "The Ultimate Fighter 15" winner Michael Chiesa and the recently retired Dustin Poirier will serve as desk analysts on the post-fight show and throughout the card, when necessary. It will be Poirier's first analyst assignment since his MMA retirement fight vs. Max Holloway at UFC 318 in July. UFC 319 cageside commentators Jon Anik will serve as the leading man on the mic from cageside at UFC 319. He will command play-by-play alongside color commentators, former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan, who returns for a stateside numbered event after missing UFC 318. Din Thomas will also contribute to the broadcast as a coach-analyst.
