UFC 319 Picks for All Fights on August 16

The UFC 319 main event – Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev – has the potential to be the fight of the year. It’s such a huge fight that we had no other option but to analyze it in detail. You can read our predictions and picks for the UFC 319 headliner in our DDP vs. Chimaev preview.

For all the other UFC fights scheduled for August 16 in Chicago, you ought to stay put. We’ll now share our top UFC 319 picks for main card fights, followed by predictions for prelims.

UFC 319 Main Card Picks

• Lerone Murphy vs. Aaron Pico – Aaron Pico
• Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates – Carlos Prates
• Jared Cannonier vs. Michael Page – Michael Page
• Tim Elliott vs. Kai Asakura – Kai Asakura

Khamzat Chimaev isn’t the only undefeated fighter coming to Chicago on August 16to fight at UFC 319. Lerone Murphy too, has no losses, with 16 wins and one draw. But based on the UFC 318 betting odds, he’s going to suffer his first defeat by the hands of Aaron Pico.

The reason is that Pico is a much better wrestler than him. Striking-wise, Murphy is better, landing 4.53 significant strikes while absorbing just 2.48. However, we think Pico packs more power.

Our prediction is that he’s gonna steamroll Murphy – land a quick takedown and finish him with ground-and-pound.

We also expect to see a finish in the Tim Elliott vs. Kai Asakura fight. This is a redemption fight for the Japanese star, who needs to get a spectacular KO to stay relevant.

In the other two UFC 319 main card fights, we think it’s the judges who will decide the winners. They’ll probably score in Michael Page’s favor unless he gets badly hurt early on in the fight.

We also think Carlos Prates will beat up Geoff Neal, but knowing how tough the Texas-based fighter is, we don’t think he’ll be able to knock him out.

Picks for UFC 319 Prelims and Early Prelims

• King (Bobby) Green vs. Diego Ferreira – Diego Ferreira
• Gerald Meerschaert vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk – Michal Oleksiejczuk
• Jessica Andrade vs. Loopy Godinez – Loopy Godinez
• Chase Hooper vs. Alexander Hernandez – Chase Hooper
• Edson Barboza vs. Drakkar Klose – Edson Barboza
• Bryan Battle vs. Nursulton Ruziboev – Bryan Battle
• Karine Silva vs. Dione Barbosa – Karine Silva

We’re backing the UFC 319 betting favorites in all fights on the preliminary and early preliminary card. Our top pick is Michal Oleksiejczuk, who we think will destroy Gerald Meerschaert, a fine wrestler, but someone who doesn’t have the answer to the Polish fighter’s striking.

There are a couple of prelims that we’re not too sure about. Loppy Godinez is in her prime, but Jessica Andrade is an experienced veteran, so we wouldn’t bet too much on Loopy. We also think Alexander Hernandez possesses a similar set of skills to Chase Hooper, so anything can happen in that fight.