Lerone Murphy is heading into 2026 bemoaning the fact that he isn’t getting the chance to fulfil his dream of fighting Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title next.

And not only that, but the undefeated 4th ranked contender has stated his belief that the 37-year-old Volkanovski will actually hang up his gloves for good after his rematch with Diego Lopes at UFC 325 on January 31st.

“Now I don’t get the chance to fight Volkanovski,” Murphy said on Demetrious Johnson’s podcast. “I know he’s going to retire after this fight.

“That’s a legend. Being able to test my skills against a legend, having his name on my resume is massive. It’s something that I’m never going to be able to get now because of that. Not because I didn’t earn it, because of obviously favoritism and whatever.”

For the record, there were rumors going around recently about Volkanovski potentially retiring, but as things stand he’s denied that’s the case.

“There’s no plans to retire after this,” Volkanovski had told ABC News in Australia back in the middle of December. “If the camp goes horrendous and the fight goes horrendous maybe I won’t have it anymore.

“But I think I do, I’ve proven that in training and I will prove that February 1st and not just that, I think I can make it look easy.

“That’s no disrespect to Lopes, that’s just where I believe I can take it — without much damage and get that quick turnaround I wanted last time.”

It doesn’t appear that Murphy believes Volkanovski, but for the mean-time he has other to fish to fry as he’s been drawn up against another undefeated fighter with a strong claim to a title shot in Movsar Evloev at UFC: London on March 21st.

Nevertheless, Murphy can’t resist the urge to look ahead to what might come next.

“If Volkanovski wins, it’s a vacant title, my fight might be for the title,” Murphy said. “That’s what I’m hoping for. Maybe, maybe not, we’ll see.”