Lerone Murphy has built his career on a simple formula: show up, stay undefeated, and make himself undeniable. At 17-0-1, with a net worth reportedly touching $1.2 million, he has done everything a rising featherweight contender is supposed to do. Yet when the UFC and Dana White unveiled their first major slate for 2026, a seven-year, $7.7 billion broadcast era set to begin on CBS and Paramount, Murphy’s name was nowhere near the title picture. Instead, the company doubled down on a rematch for UFC 325: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes 2 in Sydney, Australia.

The announcement dropped on Thanksgiving Day, a holiday surprise that left the community buzzing. Still, no reaction landed harder than Murphy’s. The undefeated contender had been circling the title for months, waiting for a crack at Volkanovski. And when he realized he wasn’t in the equation, the disappointment hit deeper than any punch he’s taken in the Octagon.

Lerone Murphy breaks his silence on Dana White and the UFC skipping him for a title shot

In a recent interview, ‘The Miracle’ told Ariel Helwani that “Yeah, you know what? When I first found out, I didn’t even… Do you know what? I fell out love with it for a bit, I’m not gonna lie.”

He explained that he had originally turned to MMA because he believed “Oh, but boxing, because I thought there’s no politics here. I thought it was just simply do the work, the best fight the best, and that’s the way it goes.” Instead, the rematch announcement made him feel like the sport he trusted had shifted beneath his feet.

That’s when the heartbreak turned into perspective. Murphy recalled, ”But that’s what hurt me the most a bit. It’s like at the end of it… And then I kind of thought it over and it’s like… get over it is what it is it’s business just keep fighting keep doing what you’re keep winning and we’ll get there eventually and I think it’s inevitable that it’s gonna happen…”

His road, he said, has “never been easy from the get-go,” and this setback is simply another bend in a long, winding story. But why did this title shot go to Diego Lopes again? That’s the question haunting fans.

Lopes last fought Volkanovski at UFC 314 and lost a clean unanimous decision. Since then, he has only competed once, stopping Jean Silva at Noche UFC in September. Solid, yes. But enough to leapfrog a 17-0-1 contender with a bulletproof résumé? Many aren’t convinced.

Still, he isn’t sulking. If anything, the Manchester native is using this moment to sharpen the edge that kept him undefeated for nearly a decade. Murphy grew up in Old Trafford, dreamed of football glory, and wound up becoming one of the UFC’s most promising British prospects. His life is proof that detours sometimes lead to destiny, even when they come disguised as delays.

And that’s what makes the politics sting so much. Fans often assume an undefeated record guarantees opportunity. But as Lerone Murphy’s experience shows, meritocracy in MMA isn’t always straightforward. Broadcast deals, star power, market timing, all of it swirls together backstage long before bouts are booked on paper. And whether Dana White intended it or not, Murphy feels like the latest casualty of those invisible gears as even the champion has come out with a surprising take on the whole situation!

‘The Great’ claims Murphy and Movsar Evloev were “deserving” of the title opportunity

Alexander Volkanovski didn’t hide from the confusion. In fact, he leaned straight into it. After all, how often does a reigning champion defend his belt against someone he just beat for the vacant title earlier? So when he addressed the UFC 325 matchup on YouTube, he spoke the same question fans have been asking: why Lopes again, and why now?

The champion admitted, “Obviously, we all know that I wanted to fight earlier, I thought it was going to be December.” For a moment, it even looked like Lerone Murphy would be his next challenger as he continued, “then I guess UFC they’re waiting for Jean Silva and Lopes. Then they were saying Lopes and obviously, we’re like, we just fought that guy.”

But even ‘The Great’ had to pause when the promotion and Dana White circled back to Lopes. Yet business kept moving, and the UFC dangled something he couldn’t refuse, a title defense in Sydney as he stated, “‘We’ll give you Sydney.’ I’m like, alright, I’ll wait for that. Then it was looking like it wasn’t going to happen, but then did happen, which was great.”

Still, Alexander Volkanovski didn’t pretend that meritocracy added up. He openly named the contenders he believed earned the shot with, “I thought Movsar was deserving, Lerone Murphy, I thought they were the two guys. They were the guys I called out.”

That leaves fans with a lingering question: if performance, record, and momentum aren’t enough, what truly decides a title shot in the modern UFC? Lerone Murphy has chosen to swallow the politics and keep marching, trusting that persistence will eventually corner fate. But the irony is hard to miss as the fighter who built his career on being undeniable is now being asked to wait his turn while the business moves without him.