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Lerone Murphy staked his claim to a title shot at UFC 319. | Getty/UFC
Lerone Murphy’s UFC 319 win might have sealed a title shot for him.
While Movsar Evloev has long been the frontrunner in the race for a featherweight title shot, it has unfortunately evaded him thus far. Alexander Volkanovski acknowledged Evloev as the most deserving contender after winning the title at UFC 314 this past April. But Evloev was scheduled for another test against highly touted UFC debutant Aaron Pico at UFC 319. A title shot seemed inevitable if Evloev would beat Pico before the undefeated Russian pulled out.
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Evloev was replaced on three weeks’ notice by Murphy, who capitalized on the opportunity in the co-main event at UFC 319 on Saturday in Chicago. While Pico came out with guns blazing, Murphy maintained composure and knocked out the Bellator veteran with a spinning back elbow at the 3:21 mark of Round 1. The undefeated Brit earned a $50,000 bonus and a legitimate claim for a title shot.
Volkanovski Wants to Face Murphy in December
Volkanovski believes Murphy might beat Evloev in the race for a UFC gold bid after his win on Saturday. Volkanovski still acknowledges Evloev as a deserving contender and claims to have called for the matchup. However, the Australian champ also admits that a defense against Murphy makes a lot of sense after Saturday.
“I tried to make this happen,” Volkanovski said on YouTube. “I thought [Movsar] deserves it… Then he had this fight, then I’m like, ‘He’s gonna have to do this fight and then he definitely gets it.’ Then he pulled out… It doesn’t look like it’s gonna be Movsar… Now it looks like it’s going to be Lerone Murphy. It makes a lot of sense. Let’s do it [in] December, sounds great.”
Murphy tied Evloev for the longest active winning streak (nine) in the UFC featherweight division with his win over Pico. While Murphy has already fought twice this year, Evloev hasn’t competed since a decision win over Aljamain Sterling in December 2024. Although Evloev’s career has been marred with fight cancellations, it has mostly been due to factors outside his control. However, the elite contender is often criticzed for the lack of finishes on his resume.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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