Lerone Murphy authored exactly the type of moment he needed on Saturday night.
While “The Iceman” entered UFC 319 on an eight-bout promotional winning streak, a statement victory was still lacking. Murphy changed all of that when he vanquished former Bellator star Aaron Pico with an exquisite spinning back elbow 3:21 into the opening stanza of the evening’s co-headliner at the United Center in Chicago. With his first finish in nearly four years comes the Englishman’s due respect: Reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski acknowledged his callout, pointing to a potential December date between the two.