Lerone Murphy might have a date set for a title fight with Alexander Volkanovski.
The UFC featherweight champion took to social media to congratulate Murphy on his huge win Saturday in the UFC 319 co-main event. Murphy welcomed former Bellator star Aaron Pico to the octagon with a stunning first-round spinning back elbow knockout.
It was the ninth straight win for Murphy, who is undefeated in 18 pro bouts (including one draw), and he used his post-fight microphone time to call for a shot at Volkanovski’s belt.
Volkanovski responded in kind, writing, “See you in December.”
A December UFC pay-per-view is yet to be announced, but Murphy is all in on facing Volkanovski at the traditional year-end show.
“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.”
Murphy is yet to receive a title shot despite his spotless UFC record, which includes wins over ranked fighters Josh Emmett, Dan Ige, and Edson Barboza. One challenge Murphy faces is his lack of finishes as he had gone the distance in his past five fights.
He didn’t head into UFC 319 looking to change his style so he could knock Pico out, but he’s pleased with how the fight played out.
“You have to fight everybody differently,” Murphy said. “You can’t stand there and trade with Josh Emmett. It’s just not smart. We’ve seen what he does to guys that do that, so to get a knockout now, I’m shutting them haters up anyway. I know I can do that, I know what I’ve got in the bag, and I know that the best version of me has not been shown yet and I will show that in December.”
The other challenge Murphy has had to deal with is his aversion to avoid trash talk and hyperbole. Murphy isn’t known for his meme-worthy promos, and that’s fine with him as he believes his in-cage performance takes priority over anything else.
“I let my fighting do the talk,” Murphy said. “I let my elbows do the talking. The champ’s calling me out now because he knows I should be next in line. I deserve it more than anybody else. Nobody’s had five wins in the top 15, I’ve had two main event slots, and that was a great knockout, so I deserve it more. Let’s go, Volk.”
Murphy and fellow countryman Paddy Pimblett could both be fighting for gold soon, with Pimblett campaigning to face rival and lightweight champion Ilia Topuria. Should the stars align for Murphy and Pimblett, “The Miracle” is thrilled at the suggestion that their title fights could take place on the same card.
“Wow, that would be crazy,” Murphy said. “I’ve not even heard that yet, but I think that would be the best card ever. Let’s do that, let’s do Volkanovski vs. Lerone Murphy and Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett and we’ll blow the roof off.”
