Among the most prominent to send Pico a message was former lightweight and pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev, who had words of encouragement for the newcomer after a devastating first outing under the UFC banner. “Head up champ,” Makhachev commented.

In a 3-round featherweight bout on the main card, Lerone Murphy and Aaron Pico meet Saturday at UFC 319 at United Center in Chicago.

Both men made weight, with the undefeated Murphy registering at 146 pounds, while Murphy was on championship weight at 145 on the nose. Check out the video below to see their UFC 319 official weigh-ins.

UFC 319 was a dramatic affair from Chicago, Illinois, with a 12-fight card headlined by Dricus du Plessis and the newly-crowned champion Khamzat Chimaev. The main card saw back-to-back knockouts come by spinning elbow as Carlos Prates KO’d Geoff Neal, and the undefeated Lerone Murphy spoiled Aaron Pico’s UFC debut in brutal fashion.

During several heated UFC 319 exchanges, Chimaev also announced himself ready to dethrone the UFC middleweight king permanently – “Africa is never going to see the belt again” – and despite his rival’s insistence that he would kill to retain.

The Dricus Du Plessis championship era was brought to a halt Saturday at UFC 319 courtesy of Khamzat Chimaev. Du Plessis (23-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) was handily beaten by Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) in the form of a unanimous decision at United Center in Chicago,