Fighting Murphy next is a no-brainer – Volkanovski

Alexander Volkanovski, the current world champion, says it would be “no-brainer” to face Lerone Murphy in his next title defense.

At UFC 319 on Saturday, Manchester’s Murphy clinched his place in contention for a championship bout by elbowing Aaron Pico in a sensational spinning back elbow.

Murphy, who is sixth in the featherweight rankings and took the fight with three weeks’ notice, made a 17th-place start to his career.

The 34-year-old won the UFC for the ninth time in a row since taking the title in 2019.

“You couldn’t have scripted it any better,” he said. On a big card with a nine-fight winning streak, you get a guy who goes in and does a massive knockout like that, Volkanovski said on YouTube.

After withdrawing from the contest for unknown reasons, Murphy replaced Russian Movsar Evloev with the fight against American Pico.

Evloev, who is undefeated in 19 fights, would have been the top contender, according to Australian Volkanovski, had Pico defeated him, but Murphy has now taken his place.

Volkanovski, 36, is regarded as one of the best featherweights of all time and a two-time champion.

Before being defeated by Ilia Topuria last year, he had previously defended his title five times before regaining it with a victory over Diego Lopes in April.

Murphy has occasionally failed to receive the credit he deserves for his work in the octagon due to his reserved personality in comparison to some of his brash peers, despite his undefeated record.