Alexander Volkanovski has suggested that his next UFC featherweight title defence might not be as straightforward as expected, after previously calling out Lerone Murphy. The Australian reclaimed the belt in April by outpointing Diego Lopes, and appeared set to face Murphy following the Briton's spectacular knockout of Aaron Pico in August.
However, speaking to Submission Radio on Friday, Volkanovski cast doubt on the prospect. "I mean, it's hard, like... I thought that was what it is going to be. But there might be a spanner in the works," he said. When asked about a potential home-soil event in Sydney in February, the 36-year-old replied coyly: "February in Sydney... Is it February in Sydney?"
Murphy, 34, improved to 9-0 in the UFC with his first-round spinning back elbow finish of Pico, establishing himself as the apparent No 1 contender. He stepped in for Movsar Evloev, who had withdrawn from a bout with Pico due to injury. Evloev, unbeaten at 19-0, had previously been linked to a title shot against Volkanovski.
Another potential challenger, Jean Silva, saw his hopes dashed after losing to Lopes via spinning back elbow earlier in September. Volkanovski began his second featherweight reign by defeating Lopes, having lost the belt to Ilia Topuria via knockout in February 2024. That defeat came four months after a knockout loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, whom Volkanovski had narrowly lost to in 2023.
