Lerone Murphy KOs Aaron Pico in 1st Round at UFC 319 to Win Featherweight Fight

Lerone Murphy kept his unbeaten record intact and further established himself as a featherweight contender with a first-round knockout win over Aaron Pico in the co-main event of UFC 319.

He did it in style too. He set the arena ablaze with a highlight-reel spinning back elbow knockout.

He even caught champion Alexander Volkanovski's attention.

Ariel Helwani noted a disappointing trend where stars from Bellator/PFL have struggled to make a smooth transition to the UFC:

Murphy wisely took the opportunity to call out the champion. A highlight reel knockout in a big spot like that might see him get his shot at stardom in the division.

Murphy continues to prove himself as a force to be reckoned with in the featherweight division. The 34-year-old is now 17-0-1 in his career with wins over Pico, Josh Emmett, Dan Ige and Edson Barboza.

Pico's debut was originally supposed to go down against No. 1 contender Movsar Evloev in July. However, Evloev bowed out of the fight for undisclosed reasons and the matchup with Murphy was set.

Now the Brit believes there's a new No. 1 in the division.

"Beating Aaron Pico is going to put me in that No. 1 contender spot," Murphy said ahead of the fight, per Matthew Wells of MMA Junkie. "He was supposed to fight Movsar, like you know, and Movsar got hurt or sick or whatever happened. So, I'm the replacement now. This is a No. 1 contender fight."

Murphy has a solid case when the UFC goes to book Alexander Volkanovski for his next title defense.

Pico might not have a ton of name recognition for UFC fans, but his work in Bellator along with an impressive amateur combat career built a strong reputation. Pico's amateur run included a junior Golden Gloves championship in boxing and a second-place finish at the US Olympic Team Trials in wrestling in 2016.

He got off to a slow start in Bellator. He went 4-3 before ripping off wins in 9 of his next 10 fights. Perhaps, he'll be able to rebound from another slow start to become a contender in the UFC.