Lerone Murphy will likely have to fight one more time before he challenges for UFC gold.<\/p>\n
UFC CEO Dana White threw the featherweight division for a loop on Thanksgiving Day this past Thursday. Taking to CBS and then Instagram live, White announced the first slate of action to kick off 2026<\/a> and the company’s new era on Paramount and CBS \u2014 a deal inked for seven years and $7.7 billion<\/a>. Among the fights announced was UFC 325’s headliner \u2014 a 145-pound championship rematch between titleholder Alexander Volkanovski and challenger Diego Lopes \u2014 on Jan. 31 in Sydney, Australia.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n As one of the UFC’s top featherweight contenders, the undefeated Murphy (17-0-1) admitted to his profound disappointment Monday on “The Ariel Helwani Show.”<\/a> Murphy first heard rumblings about the rematch a month ago, but held out hope until the very end that he was next to challenge Volkanovski.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first found out, I fell out of love with it for a bit, I\u2019m not going to lie,” Murphy said. “I got into MMA over boxing because I thought there were no politics. I thought it was simply: Do the work, the best fight the best, and that\u2019s the way it goes.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s what hurt me the most a bit. I have to get over it \u2014 it is what it is, it\u2019s business. Just keep fighting, keep doing what you\u2019re doing, keep winning, and we\u2019ll get there eventually. I think it\u2019s inevitable that it\u2019s going to happen, and you know I\u2019m going to be champion. My road’s never been easy from the get-go.”<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The timing of Lopes’ second-career title shot has caused quite the stir throughout the community<\/a>. Lopes’ first clash with Volkanovski came as recently as April, when he lost by unanimous decision. Since then, Lopes has competed just once, scoring a big finish over Jean Silva<\/a> at Noche UFC in September.<\/p>\n Murphy, 34, expects the rematch between Volkanovski and Lopes to look exactly the same as the first fight. Outside of a late surge here and there, it was largely a vintage Volkanovski performance, as the two-time champ outpointed Lopes over 25 minutes.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n Hearing the backlash loud and clear, Lopes spoke out shortly after White’s announcement. In a social media post, Lopes posted an image of himself<\/a> smiling with the following caption.<\/p>\n “My face when I saw everyone crying. Sitting around, he won\u2019t give you a title fight. Get to work and stop whining on social media”<\/p>\n Though Lopes didn’t name names, Murphy reacted to the comment and made his case.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cI’m not crying. You can\u2019t tell me to get to work,” he said. “I\u2019ve won nine fights in a row, so no one can tell me to get to work. I\u2019ve fought whoever the UFC has given me. I’ve not ducked fights. I’ve said yes.<\/p>\n