UFC Fight Night 236 has lost a fun featherweight matchup.
Lerone Murphy was set to take on Dan Ige at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Feb. 10, but an undisclosed injury has prompted his withdrawal from the fight. MMA Junkie confirmed the news with a source following a first report from Violent Money TV.
Ige (17-7 MMA, 9-6 UFC) and Murphy (13-0-1 MMA, 5-0-1 UFC), who are ranked No. 14 and No. 15 respectively on the current USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie featherweight rankings, publicly exchanged well wishes on social media.
Heal up champ.
— Dan Ige (@Dynamitedan808) January 17, 2024
While the undefeated Murphy is on the mend, Ige hopes he will be able to keep the same fight date in February against a new opponent, as his wife is expected to give birth in March.
Ige posted a video to Instagram Stories asking a simple question: “Who’s it gonna be?”
The 32-year-old featherweight is looking to return to the win column following a unanimous decision loss to Bryce Mitchell in September. That setback followed back-to-back wins over Damon Jackson and Nate Landwehr earlier in 2023.
Following two appearances last calendar year that included decision wins over Gabriel Santos and Josh Culibao, Murphy will have to wait a little longer to get his 2024 started.
The lineup for UFC 236 includes:
- Jack Hermansson vs. Joe Pyfer
- Gregory Rodrigues vs. Brad Tavares
- Darrius Flowers vs. Michael Johnson
- Dan Ige vs. opponent TBA
- Armen Petrosyan vs. Rodolfo Vieira
- Trevin Giles vs. Carlos Prates
- Bruna Brasil vs. Loma Lookboonmee
- Bogdan Guskov vs. Zac Pauga
- Devin Clark vs. Marcin Prachnio
- Max Griffin vs. Jeremiah Wells
- Damir Hadzovic vs. Bolaji Oki
- Aori Qileng vs. Daniel Marcos
- Hyder Amil vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan
