The coach of consensus GOAT Jon Jones has high praise for another of his fighters who will arrive on MMA’s biggest stage at UFC 319.
After wrapping up a two-week stint at the Apex with Anthony Hernandez’s dominant win over Roman Dolidze at UFC Vegas 109 on Saturday, the Octagon is heading to Chicago for the promotion’s latest pay-per-view.
UFC 319 will be topped by Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev’s title clash, but there are also a number of intriguing and important matchups scheduled for the undercard.
Notably setting the stage for the middleweight championship main event will be a key co-headliner at 145 pounds between Lerone Murphy and Aaron Pico. The latter is debuting in the UFC after making his name as a Bellator standout.
Pico is highly regarded by many, none more so by his and Jones’ trainer…
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Jon Jones’ coach calls Aaron Pico the ‘most disciplined athlete’ he’s ever worked with
After Pico’s planned debut against Movsar Evloev fell off the Abu Dhabi card in July, the UFC wasted little time in rebooking the American featherweight for the August 16 numbered event in the ‘Windy City’.
He’ll face a tough test in his first assignment, as Pico comes up against a puzzle nobody has yet worked out in the undefeated Murphy. But the ex-Bellator contender’s team is confident in their man, who has been called one of a kind in one specific area by coach Brandon Gibson while speaking to Mike Owens for Inside Fighting.
“Probably the most disciplined athlete I’ve ever trained,” said Gibson, who has coached the likes of Jones, Carlos Condit, John Dodson, Cub Swanson, Tim Kennedy, and Alistair Overeem
“You know, I’ve trained a lot of UFC Hall of Famers, so that’s — it’s not a small statement.
“He is just an impressive young man,” Gibson continued. “His ability to stay focused for these durations, stay focused on his goal, it’s really impressive.
“He’s a well-rounded striker, amazing wrestler, amazing grappler, and we’ve just continued to polish all of those areas.”
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Aaron Pico tipped to become UFC champion if he beats Lerone Murphy
Despite calls for Evloev to get the next shot and a potential title eliminator between Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho coming up in Paris, one former two-division UFC champion is looking elsewhere for Alexander Volkanovski’s next challenger.
Henry Cejudo believes that the winner of UFC 319’s co-main event should receive an opportunity. And more than that, Cejudo is tipping either Pico or Murphy to unseat Volkanovski down the line.
“The winner of this fight is gonna fight Alexander Volkanovski, and I also feel the winner of this fight is gonna become our next champion,” Cejudo said on his Pound 4 Pound podcast alongside Kamaru Usman.
“All due respect to Volk, but dude, these young guns. Lerone Murphy is fighting Aaron Pico. Aaron Pico is in his f—- prime, bro. Power, wrestling; he has been a manchild since he was a kid, already competing at the highest levels while in high school, beating world champions.
“And then Lerone Murphy, what he has been able to do to a lot of these fighters, man,” Cejudo continued. “Undefeated, very tricky, brings in a lot of the wrestling; he’s different, he’s like Merab (Dvalishvili).”