The UFC is back in Chicago for the first time since 2019 for a pay-per-view card (10 p.m. on ESPN+ PPV; prelims at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+) headlined by a middleweight championship bout between champion Dricus Du Plessis (23-2) and ESPN’s No. 2 middleweight Khamzat Chimaev (14-0). For just the third time in UFC history, both fighters enter the match on a streak of at least eight wins, with Du Plessis winning nine straight and Chimaev eight. A win for Du Plessis would give him his fourth successful title defense, tied for fourth most by a UFC middleweight. If Chimaev were to win, he would be the third undefeated middleweight champion.
Before DDP and Chimaev enter the cage, former Bellator MMA standout Aaron Pico will make his UFC debut against undefeated featherweight Lerone Murphy. A pair of exciting welterweights, Carlos Prates and Geoff Neal, also face off in a bout that was rescheduled from April, and fan favorite middleweight Michael “Venom” Page takes on former title challenger Jared Cannonier.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Andreas Hale and Jeff Wagenheim are on hand to provide results and analysis from those and eight other fights on the UFC 319 card.