Alexander Volkanovski has hinted at a “spanner in the works” around his next fight, having previously expressed a keen desire to face Lerone Murphy in December.
Volkanovski began his second reign as UFC featherweight champion in April, when he survived a knockdown to outpoint Diego Lopes and recapture the belt that he lost to Ilia Topuria in 2024.
Eyeing the first defence of his new reign, the Australian called out Murphy in August, immediately after the Briton stopped UFC debutant Aaron Pico in spectacular fashion.
Murphy knocked out Pico with a spinning back elbow in round one, staying unbeaten as a professional and extending his win streak to nine in the UFC. With that, the 34-year-old seemed to establish himself as the No 1 contender to Volkanovski, 36, who welcomed the match-up.
Now, however, “Volk” has cast doubt over that prospect, telling Submission Radio on Friday (26 September): “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.”
When it was put to Volkanovski that he could wait for a home-soil event in Sydney in February, he said coyly: “February in Sydney... Is it February in Sydney?”
After reclaiming the throne at 145lb, Volkanovski was linked to a title defence against Movsar Evloev, who is unbeaten at 19-0 – with nine wins in the UFC.
However, a strange saga saw the Russian paired with Pico instead, before he withdrew from that bout due to injury. Murphy stepped in for Evloev and, of course, earned an emphatic finish of the American.
Murphy is still seen as the frontrunner to challenge Volkanovski, especially as Jean Silva – previously a potential contender – suffered a knockout loss to Lopes this month. The Brazilian was stopped by his compatriot with a spinning back elbow, similar to Murphy’s against Pico.
Prior to beating Lopes in April, Volkanovski lost the featherweight title to Topuria via knockout in February 2024. That result came four months after the Aussie’s knockout loss to Islam Makhachev, who retained the lightweight belt with the result – having narrowly outpointed Volkanovski earlier in 2023.
Between Volkanovski’s losses to Makhachev, however, the 36-year-old stopped Yair Rodriguez to record a fifth successful defence of the featherweight title.
Volkanovki’s first reign also featured successful defences against Max Holloway (twice), Chan Sung Jung, and Brian Ortega.
