Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire wants Lerone Murphy, answers his social media challenge

Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire doesn't want to waste any time sitting on the sidelines. So, when Lerone Murphy issued a challenge for the UFC featherweight division's top fighters, 'Pitbull' didn't hesitate to give him an answer on social media.

Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire targets Lerone Murphy fight

After Alexander Volkanovski's generational win over Movsar Evloev at UFC 333, there's no clear title challenger for his featherweight title, besides maybe Jean Silva, who has already been shot down by the champion's coach. One fighter who is eager to fight for championship gold is Lerone Murphy, who is coming off a majority decision loss to Evloev from their UFC Fight Night 270 encounter. He's looking for an opponent ranked in the featherweight top five, and he believes a win would land him a title fight. However, the fighter who answered the call was Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire, who is nowhere near the top five, but as game as they come.

"Of the top 15, Evloev just lost, Lopes, Costa and Ortega moved up, Sterling is fighting Vallejos, Jean is waiting for the title shot. Yair and Allen are injured, Zalal, Garcia and Onama are coming off losses, and you beat Pico. I'm the one that makes sense now. Let's get it done."

It's a bold response from 'Pitbull'. He is coming off an impressive first-round knockout of Choi Doo-ho at UFC 331, but he is 2-2 in the UFC. To make matters worse, Murphy is chasing a top five fighter, while 'Pitbull' is ranked #14 by the UFC Media Panel and unranked on the UFC Meta Rankings. Despite his strong legacy from his Bellator days, it's unlikely to mean anything to Murphy, especially with fighters like Silva just as eager to fight for the title. There's also Kevin Vallejos, who has called for a title shot if he gets past Aljamain Sterling at UFC Fight Night 294.

In Murphy's case, he'll almost certainly need more than just a win over a top five fighter to secure a title shot. He's coming off a loss to the fighter who was just finished by Volkanovski within two rounds. A single win since his first career loss just won't do, especially as a fighter the fans aren't necessarily clamoring for. He doesn't have a high finishing rate or an exciting fighting style, nor is he on a win streak or in command of a large fanbase that could force the UFC's hand. He's just a very high-level fighter who needs, at least, two more wins.