Lerone Murphy was so disappointed with the UFC’s decision to go with Diego Lopes for a title shot, it changed his outlook on the sport.
UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski (27-4 MMA, 14-3 UFC) thought he would be defending his belt against Murphy in December, only to find out he will be headlining UFC 325 on Jan. 31 in a rematch against Lopes (27-7 MMA, 6-2 UFC).
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Volkanovski defeated Lopes to claim the vacant belt at UFC 314, but Lopes’ rebound knockout win over Jean Silva in September was good enough to make him leapfrog the likes of Murphy (17-0-1 MMA, 9-0-1 UFC) and Movsar Evloev.
“When I first found out, I fell out of love with it for a bit. I’m not going to lie,” Murphy said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I got into MMA over boxing because I thought there’s no politics. I thought it was simply do the work, the best fight the best, and that’s the way it goes. That’s what hurt me the most a bit.
“Then I thought it over, and it’s like, get over it. It is what it is. It’s business. Just keep fighting, keep doing what you’re doing, keep winning, and we’ll get there eventually. I think it’s inevitable that it’s going to happen, and you know I’m going to be champion. My road’s never been easy from the get-go.”
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With Volkanovski’s win over Lopes eight months ago being a convincing one, Murphy said there can only be one reason why Lopes is getting another shot.
“All I can think is they want a Mexican champion,” Murphy said. “They must have seen the numbers that (Brandon) Moreno pulled in, or even Lopes pulls in. It’s a business move, and it can only be that, really.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Lerone Murphy reacts to UFC snubbing him for Diego Lopes title shot