Alexander Volkanovski‘s featherweight rule has always been clear. The next challenger is usually easy to see. The title shots are earned, and the division always had a plan and a steady path. This time, however, everything around UFC 325 has felt strangely scrambled. Fans weren’t the only ones perplexed when the UFC announced a rematch with Diego Lopes, Volkanovski’s own crew was taken aback.

Just a few weeks ago, it felt like that the path to his next challenger would be smooth. All he had planned was to defend the title in Sydney, face one of the rising challengers, and build the final chapter of his career on merit rather than marketing. But somewhere between Diego Lopes’ viral knockout and the UFC’s matchmaking chaos, all of the expectations around Movsar Evloev or Lerone Murphy evaporated, and the rug was pulled from under Team Volkanovski.

Alexander Volkanovski’s coach reveals Murphy was the original choice

According to head coach Joe Lopez, the UFC’s early talks pointed clearly towards Lerone Murphy. For them, the shortlist was ready. Movsar Evloev, Lerone Murphy, or the winner of Murphy vs. Aaron Pico.

And once ‘The Miracle’ delivered that emphatic spinning back elbow knockout at UFC 319, the team considered it a done deal. “We said, Yeah, it’s Murphy,” the coach recounted. However, it all changed once Diego Lopes went one-on-one against Jean Silva at UFC Noche. “All indications led to Murphy. Until Diego had his spectacular KO and everything changed.”

However, the coach expressed his surprise, not out of disrespect for the Brazilian, but simply because the competitive logic just wasn’t there. They’d just beaten Diego Lopes. If number 1-ranked Movsar Evloev, or number 4-ranked ‘The Miracle,’ competed in the Sydney major event, the ranking picture would have made significantly more sense.

“Movsar and Murphy, on paper, are probably more deserving,” he further told Submission Radio, repeating just what many fans had already written online.

In fact, following UFC 319, even Alexander Volkanovski publicly referred to Murphy as a “no-brainer.” Nonetheless, despite all signals pointing to a new contender, the UFC pivoted hard.

The Brazilian’s spinning back elbow and ground & pound knockout gave him just enough momentum to jump two deserving contenders and earn a second chance at the title. For ‘The Great,’ it’s another unexpected turn at the tail end of a historic career, one he’ll welcome because he always does, but one no one, including his closest circle, expected.

The only consistency in this situation is Alexander Volkanovski’s professionalism. Whether the UFC pits him against Diego Lopes, Lerone Murphy, or Evloev months later, he’ll show up ready. But now that his coach has pulled back the curtain, fans can finally see what the UFC 325 main event was supposed to be, and how swiftly and radically it changed. Leaving ‘The Miracle’ clearly hurt by it all.

Lerone Murphy expresses frustration

Obviously, Lerone Murphy was the first to feel the sting of the twist. From his perspective, the UFC did more than just reshuffle plans; they turned down what could have been the best opportunity of his career. And after a knockout that ‘The Great’ described as a “no-brainer,” seeing the slot go to someone he’d already seen the champ beat was a different type of gut punch.

The message he drew from it was not about merit, but about popularity. When Dana White revealed the fight cards for UFC 324 and UFC 325, ‘The Miracle’ did not attempt to hide his dissatisfaction. He wasn’t bitter, but he was honest.

“Missing the opportunity to fight one of featherweight’s GOATs is what hurts me the most,” Murphy wrote, with the tone of a man who had done everything right but still watched his reward slip away.

He’s furious with the system, and he is now publicly questioning.

“It’s not about who’s the best anymore. It’s about who’s most popular.” And that’s the part that keeps echoing after his reaction—not anger, but resignation. Lerone Murphy understands he earned the opportunity.

The Champion, his couch, and the fans were all in agreement. But the UFC shuffled the pieces anyway, leaving the undefeated challenger with only one cruel fact to face: in this sport, the rankings aren’t always the real scoreboard.