Could Alexander Volkanovski vs. Lerone Murphy be next?
All eyes were on Aaron Pico at UFC 319, despite the fact that Murphy came into the bout with an undefeated record. Pico was the hot Bellator prospect that fans wanted to see thrive in the UFC octagon. Unfortunately, it was Murphy who got the biggest and most impressive win to date.
Since joining the UFC in 2020, Murphy has been slowly climbing the ranks of the featherweight division. Thanks to his win over Aaron Pico, he’s currently ranked at number four in the division, and he didn’t hesitate to call for a title shot following his stunning knockout against Pico.
Alexander acknowledged it on social media.
It sounds like Murphy could genuinely be the next challenger for his belt very soon (Transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting).
“I think it’s a bit of a no-brainer,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “December’s looking good. There were earlier dates that probably wouldn’t work for guys that are fighting right now anyway, so the later dates were always looking better for me anyway and for my future potential opponents. So December’s looking like it could be there.”
Now the number one contender should be Movsar Evloev, but Volkanovski says he tried fighting him, but it just hasn’t come to fruition.
“A lot of people are going to be, like, ‘Movsar should be there,’” Volkanovski said. “I tried. I tried to make that happen. I thought he deserves it, he did deserve it, he had this fight and then I’m, like, alright, he’s going to have to do this fight and then he definitely gets it and then he pulled out and you know what the UFC’s like with things like that. Maybe they tried to push it back because they pushed the date further and he still didn’t do it. Maybe it was a serious injury, I’m not sure, I don’t know what it is. Maybe that’s why he can’t fight, I don’t know, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be Movsar.
“I’ve tried with all of them, but it looks like it’s Lerone Murphy, it makes a lot of sense. So let’s do Lerone Murphy, December, sounds great.”
How does Murphy feel about this? December is perfect for him.
“December would be perfect for me,” Murphy said at the UFC 319 post-fight press conference. “Gives me time to recharge, spend some time with the family, and then work on some bits and get better and come back better. December will be great to share the octagon with Volkanovski, one of the featherweight GOATs. Adding another scalp to my already quality résumé. … I’ve had 10 fights in the UFC now, one draw, nine wins, it’s time for a title fight.”
Let’s hope Dana White jumps onboard to this match-up. He was definitely impressed with Murphy on Saturday and seems open to the idea of him and Volkanovski.
“It’s a weird thing to say with a guy who has a record like he has, and sits where he sits in the division, that tonight was sort of a coming-out party for him," White told reporters, including MMA Knockout. "But it definitely was.”