Futures on the line for Murphy and Aspinall

The remaining months of 2025 will see some large UFC matches for British boxers. Both Lerone Murphy and especially Tom Aspinall have a lot to lose if they do not win their next visits to the Octagon.

August 16 (in the early hours of August 17 in the UK) sees the English featherweight Lerone Murphy against UFC -newcomer Aaron Pico on UFC 319 that is held in the United Center in Chicago, USA.

Murphy is currently in sixth place in the UFC Featherweight Division and another victory in August will earn his chances of earning a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski. However, a defeat will put a serious dent in his title loop.

Murphy could have prepared for a new football season at this time of the year. He had a test with Liverpool (although he was born in Trafford) but a knee injury ended his career. It seemed as if he would be a boxer, but eventually ended up in the MMA world.

His professional debut took place in 2016, initially as a lightweight. Two years later he moved to featherweight and that is where Murphy made his name. In 2019 he became the full champion of the candidate for contact persons and later that year he debuted in the UFC.

His UFC debut was against Zubaira Tukhugov and although he kept his undefeated record, the fight ended in a draw. Murphy has not looked back since that disappointing result and has since won eight fights.

He now has a 16-0-1 record and is connected to Movsa Evloev for the fourth longest winning series in the UFC Featherweight Division. August 16 sees him looking for his unbeaten record against Aaron Pico.

It is a difficult UFC debut for Pico who made his name as a freestyle thrust and almost made the 2016 Olympic Games. His MMA career started in Bellator the following year. The American lost his debut but won his next four attacks. However, 2019 did not go well with two consecutive defeats (a recently avenged).

Since another loss in 2022 he has won three fights in a row, but this looks a tough match against Murphy who should be able to maintain his undefeated record.

The UFC 319 main event sees the UFC Middleweight title on the line. Dricus Du Plessis defends his belt against the unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev. British bookmakers of offers Believe that a title change is on the road. They have du plessis at 17/10 to win the fight with the Challenger 1/2 to take the title from him.

Du Plessis won titles in two other MMA companies before he went to the UFC in 2020. Three years later he defeated Robert Whittaker in a final eliminator for the UFC Middleweight title. Six months later he took the title of Sean Strickland and has since made two successful defenses against Israel Adesanya and Strickland, both taking place in Australia. Those victories brought his pro-record to 23-2.

Can he make it 24-2? He is confronted with a tough fight against Chimaev who has already won his 14 pro fights. The Russian debuted in 2018 and four of his first five fights were won in the first round. His UFC debut was in July 2020. He must have been a man in a hurry because his second UFC match was only ten days after his first. There had never been such a short change between fighting in the company.

He has had four versions of the night in the UFC. His victory over Gilbert Burns in 2022 was declared the fight of the night. His most recent victory came in October last year when Robert Whittaker would be submitted in the first round. Five of his last seven UFC matches have not seen his opponent reach the second round.

It has been a huge year for Tom Aspinall when he became the UFC heavyweight champion. He makes the First defense of his title against the Frenchman Ciryl Gane on October 25 in Abu Dhabi. Aspinall is the strong favorite to win the fight with bookmakers who offer the chance on 1/4 with Gane available on 3/1 to cause upset.

Aspinall became interim champion in November 2023 when Sergei Pavlovich defeated in just over a minute. He defended that title in Manchester in July 2024 and removed Curtis Blaydes in just a minute. His shot on the main title never came out and when Jon Jones announced his retirement in June, Aspinall was promoted to champion.

Gane himself is a former interim heavyweight champion, but this is his third attempt to win the full title. He lost the following year to Francis Ngannou in 2022 and Jon Jones. Since then he has won two fights, but with Aspinall his last six fights in the first round, another failed title challenge probably looks like.

Roberto Villa is the CEO, founder, executive writer, senior editor of Fightbook MMA. Has a passion for combat sports and also a podcast -guest for sitting rings. He is also a former MMA hunter and kick boxer.