An Ultimate Fighting Championship bout that was scheduled to take place in February will now take place in October.
Lerone Murphy (14-0-1) was set to face Dan Ige (18-8) in a high-stakes featherweight showdown at UFC Fight Night 236 in February. Murphy ended up getting injured and was replaced by Andre Fili. After both fighters faced other opponents this year, UFC decided to reschedule the bout. According to MMA Fighting on Thursday, Murphy and Ige will meet at UFC 308. The two are scheduled to meet on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and other media have confirmed the clash.
The British fighter is yet to taste defeat as a professional and comes into the bout on a six-fight winning streak, having put together a breakout performance in May when he dominated Edson Barboza in five rounds in the main event of UFC Fight Night 241. Prior to that, Murphy had been slowly climbing the ranks, defeating the likes of Douglas Silva de Andrade and Joshua Culibao on points, as well as defeating Ricardo Ramos and Makwan Amirkhani with striking wins.
Ige made that known in June with his surprising decision to face Diego Lopez in a 165-pound catchweight bout on fight day. Though Ige fell short to the momentum-building Lopez on the scorecards, all three judges awarded the third round to the late replacement. As a result, Ige has earned the top spot for fighters who have taken on new bouts on the shortest notice in the UFC’s modern era. The Hawaii native’s recent wins include knockouts of Damon Jackson and Fili.
UFC 308 will take place on October 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, but the main event has yet to be determined. Ilia Topuria will defend his featherweight title against Max Holloway, but that bout is not expected to be the main event. Other bouts on the lineup include a heavyweight rematch between Cyril Gane and Alexander Volkov and a welterweight bout between Rinat Fakretdinov and Nursulton Ruzhiboev.
