Alexander Volkanovski looks ready to set the stage for his next title defense, and Lerone Murphy might be the man standing across from him.
At UFC 319, Murphy left no doubt that he belongs in the title picture. He stopped Aaron Pico in the first round with a brutal spinning back elbow, extending his undefeated streak to 17-0. The statement finish had Murphy calling for a crack at Volkanovski, and the champ didn’t shy away from the idea.
“December will be great to share the octagon with Volkanovski, one of the featherweight GOATs,” Murphy said after his victory.
Volkanovski quickly echoed that sentiment.
“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.”
The former lightweight challenger has kept a close eye on the featherweight division. While Murphy’s finish over Pico made waves, Movsar Evloev was initially expected to fight Pico before pulling out. Volkanovski admitted he believed Evloev would be his next opponent after he beat Diego Lopes for the vacant belt at UFC 314, but that matchup now feels unlikely.
“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.”
Volkanovski admitted he was paying close attention to the UFC 319 co-main event because the outcome had potential implications for his next defense. Pico, despite making his debut, carried the reputation of a high-action fighter from Bellator. A big finish could have put him in line for a shot, but Murphy stole the spotlight with his flawless knockout.
“I had my eye on this one,” Volkanovski said. “Did I know that the winner of this is going to be fighting for the title? No, I don’t. I still don’t have no clear answers. But at least you had Pico saying he thinks he’s going to knock me out and outwrestle me and obviously I end up saying something back. I don’t think he was being disrespectful for that and I wasn’t being disrespectful. I’m literally just trying to put the feelers out there. Who knows who I’ve got next?
“It could be Lerone Murphy. It could have been Pico. It could have been Silva if he beats Diego. Movsar, you never know, I don’t know. Or even Yair, I’m trying to put the feelers out for whoever it is so it makes sense. If for some reason it can’t be these guys, it ends up being this person, at least it’s got a little bit of legs behind it, at least it’s still, ‘Alright, it makes a little bit of sense.’ I’m going to put the feelers out with everyone. So the winner of this, that was never promised to me or that was never something that was going to happen, but I’m like, you never know.”
While nothing is official yet, Volkanovski has made it clear that December is the target. With Lerone Murphy surging on the back of a highlight-reel finish, the timing may finally be right for the undefeated contender to get his long-awaited title shot.
