Khamzat Chimaev may not have made many new fans with his dominant win over Dricus du Plessis in the main event of UFC 319 on Saturday, but the top title challenger is taking home the UFC middleweight championship after winning a lopsided decision with a smothering grappling performance.

The UFC 319 main event was one-way traffic from Khamzat Chimaev, resulting in the crowning of a new middleweight champion.

In a display of dominance that outdid even his path to the title, Chimaev spent five rounds smothering the life out of what was once an impressive champion, winning by unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44) to take the UFC middleweight belt.

Aaron Pico's long-awaited UFC debut came with the possibility of an immediate title shot with a win. Instead, the former uber prospect and Bellator MMA star was knocked out cold in spectacular and violent fashion at UFC 319 in Chicago .

The featherweight bout was discussed as being a potential title eliminator to face Alexander Volkanovski. Murphy may have solidified that shot by knocking out Pico at 3:21 of the opening round.

In the third fight of the main card, Carlos Prates hammered Geoff Neal with a spinning back elbow to the head for a KO in the final second of the first round. Neal was barely responsive on the floor as Prates began celebrating. It was the ninth spinning back elbow KO in UFC history, and Prates' UFC-best fifth KO since the start of 2024.