Joanne Calderwood calls for No. 1 contender fight with Lauren Murphy, gets quick response

UFC flyweight contender Joanne Calderwood called for a No. 1 contender fight with Lauren Murphy, and she received an immediate and affirmative response.

Calderwood made her call for a fight with Murphy during an interview with SunSport, noting that it makes sense because flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is likely to defend her title against Jessica Andrade next.

“I was thinking of fighting Lauren Murphy because I know she’s kind of waiting for her title shot as well,” Calderwood said. “I definitely like the Valentina and Jessica fight next. Hopefully me and Lauren Murphy [will fight next] and then the winner of that can go on and fight whoever wins out of those two.

“I know Cynthia [Calvillo] is injured right now, Katlyn [Chookagian] – I would fight her again but it’s not a fight that anyone probably wants to see,” Calderwood added. “So yeah, I’m putting that out into the universe to see if that’s what’s going to happen.”

It did not take long for Murphy to respond to this comment from Calderwood, and she made it very clear that she’s up for the challenge.

https://twitter.com/LaurenMurphyMMA/status/1357395672371232774

“Welcome to the conversation,” she wrote in response to Calderwood. “I’m your huckleberry, send location, I accept, etc etc etc.”

Joanne Calderwood was briefly slated to fight Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight title in 2020, but the fight fell through when the champ sustained an injury. Rather than wait for the fight to be rescheduled, Calderwood accepted a matchup with Jennifer Maia. She lost that fight via submission, which momentarily dashed her title dreams. Luckily, Calderwood was able to get back on track in her next fight, picking up an impressive victory over Jessica Eye.

Lauren Murphy, on the other hand, last fought in October, when she picked up an impressive win over the debuting Liliya Shakirova, who replaced her originally slated foe, Calvillo. That win brought her onto a four-fight streak, highlighted by defeats of Andrea Lee and Roxanne Modafferi.

Who do you think wins a potential Joanne Calderwood vs. Lauren Murphy fight?