UFC veteran Dan '50k' Ige will look to hand Lerone Murphy his first loss when the two top Featherweight contenders face each other on February 10th at UFC Vegas 86.
The bout is one of a plethora of announcements made by the UFC in recent days, with the first bouts confirmed for UFC 300, Robert Whittaker vs Paulo Costa, Erin Blanchfield vs Manon Fiorot and Yair Rodriguez vs Bryan Ortega all set for the opening third of 2024.
Ige started 2023 in impressive style, with a second round stoppage over Damon Jackson and a unanimous decision win over Nate Landwwehr. No stranger to facing upcoming talents, Ige then squared off against Bryce Mitchell in at UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs Gamrot, where he found himself on the wrong side of a unanimous decision. Never one to shy away from a tough challenge, Ige's opening assignment of 2024 will see him in a contest many athletes may well have avoided following a loss in their last outing.
Murphy's journey to this point has been nothing short of miraculous, and that is just away from the cage. As if surviving being shot in the face in May of 2013 wasn't enough, the Mancunian found himself lucky to be alive once again following a near fatal accident when a car collided with his bicycle. The accident led to Murphy not competing throughout 2022 but once he was back in the cage, he picked up where he left off, securing 2 decision victories in 2023. The Manchester Top Team athlete broke into the rankings that same year, following his win over Josh Culibao and will be keen to work his way closer to a title shot with a win over Ige.
A victory for either man will take them one step closer to entering the top 10 of one of the most stacked divisions in the promotion right now and with many of the athletes ranked above them also having fights booked, the rankings could look very different after the first few months of 2024.
Confirmed bouts for UFC Vegas 86:
Middleweight Bout- Jack Hermansson vs Joe Pyfer
Featherweight Bout- Dan Ige vs Lerone Murphy
Middleweight Bout- Brad Tavares vs Gregory Rodrigues
Lightweight Bout- Damir Hadzovic vs Bolaji Oki
Lightweight Bout- Michael Johnson vs Darrius Flowers
Middleweight Bout- Rodolfo Vieira vs Armen Petrosyan
Welterweight Bout- Trevin Giles vs Carlos Prates
Welterweight Bout- Max Griffin vs Jeremiah Wells
Strawweight Bout- Loma Lookboonmee vs Bruna Brasil
Middleweight Bout- Robert Bryczek vs Albert Duraev
Light Heavyweight Bout- Zac Pauga vs Bogdan Guskov
Bantamweight Bout- Daniel Marcos vs Aoriqileng
Light Heavyweight Bout- Devin Clark vs Marcin Prachnio
Featherweight Bout- Shayilan Nuerdanbieke vs Hyder Amil
