Lerone Murphy wants Lopes-like path to UFC title shot

Jakarta - Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight fighter Lerone Murphy wants to follow Diego Lopes' path to a title shot after his victory at UFC Vegas 105.

"Obviously you saw Diego Lopes get a title shot after beating him (Brian Ortega), so I want to go the same route. I fought Dan Ige, same as Lopes too. Give me one of them," said Lerone Murphy in a report on the MMA Fighting website monitored in Jakarta, Monday.

Lerone Murphy sees a clear path to a title shot and he is following in the footsteps of the man who fought for the gold at UFC 314 to get there, Diego Lopes.

Following his unanimous decision win over Josh Emmett in the main event of UFC Vegas 105, the undefeated British featherweight identified Brian Ortega as the ideal opponent for his next bout.

There is no personal grudge, but Murphy pointed to Diego Lopes beating Ortega before earning a shot at the belt against Alexander Volkanovski as a similar path he would like to take.

The featherweight title is up for grabs after it was vacated by Ilia Topuria who opted to move down to lightweight to aim for a two-division title.

Following his win on Saturday, Murphy immediately called for an opponent ranked in the top five in the featherweight division, as he looks to move closer to a title shot.

With a record of 16 wins and one draw, Murphy has enough of a resume to push for such fights, although he admits the lack of finishing has frustrated him a little.

With his latest win over Emmett, the 33-year-old Manchester native has now won via decision in seven of his nine UFC fights.

"It was the exact game plan as you saw there. Taking him down from distance, catching him on the way in. Obviously, I wanted the finish. The finish didn't happen at that point," he said.