Abu Dhabi – UFC featherweight Dan Ige sees his matchup against Lerone Murphy at UFC 308 on Saturday as a reward for stepping up on short notice at UFC 303.
Ige took a fight with Diego Lopes on just 4 hours notice after Brian Ortega fell out of the fight.
“I see this as a reward. I get to fight a guy above me in the rankings. Yes he’s undefeated, he’s been tested against some worthy contenders,” Ige told reporters on Wednesday.
“Comes down to self-belief. I have belief in myself and in my team and I believe we have the game plan to beat him. That’s the beauty of the sport. Odds and all that aside anything can happen in MMA. I’m going to look to go out there and be the first person to beat Lerone Murphy.”
Ige (18-8) has noticed an uptick in attention and support from fans stemming from that late notice fight with Lopes.
“To receive the attention from the fans the media. I definitely feel the love. Doesn’t change anything about me. It’s nice to get that recognition. All my close friends and family know that about me, but now the whole world knows that about me,” he said.
“A gamer. This is my life. I dedicate my life to this sport and my life as a martial artist. It’s a ‘stay ready’ mentality. When opportunity knocks you know you got to be ready.”
Ige walked into the media room on Wednesday morning working on something on his phone. It turns out the featherweight got a speeding ticket while in Abu Dhabi.
“Sorry, I’m paying a ticket,” Ige apologized to the media in the room.
“Speeding. $195 AED. They said pay it immediately. I don’t want to go to jail.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Dan Ige above. He takes on Lerone Murphy at UFC 308 on Saturday.
