Outside Source
Rumors recently surfaced of a 145-pound matchup between Murphy (17-0) and Aljamain Sterling (25-5) at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “The Iceman” quickly shut down the report, confirming that he won’t fight again this year.
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“LOL. I’m not fighting this year,” Murphy wrote on Twitter.
Murphy established himself as a contender by spoiling the debut of former Bellator MMA star Aaron Pico with a highlight-reel knockout at UFC 319 this past August. The undefeated Englishman defeated Edson Barboza, Dan Ige and Josh Emmett before his win over Pico. But also waiting in the wings for a title shot is undefeated Russian contender Movsar Evloev (19-0).
Alexander Volkanovski acknowledged Evloev as the top contender after winning the vacant title against Diego Lopes. However, Volkanovski later revealed that despite his best efforts to match up against Evloev, Murphy is likely to get the next title shot after his win over Pico.
Meanwhile, Sterling moved up to featherweight after losing his bantamweight title to Sean O’Malley in a huge upset in 2023. “Funkmaster” has since sandwiched a loss against Evloev between wins over Calvin Kattar and Brian Ortega.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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