If there’s one thing you should know about Dan Ige, it’s that he’s always ready to fight.

Considering he accepted a fight against Diego Lopes at UFC 303 about three hours in advance, it’s hard to imagine Ige would shy away from any opponent or accept the promotion offered to him. After nearly pulling off the upset of Lopes in June, Ige requested a spot on September’s UFC 306 card, scheduled to take place at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

Despite all efforts to find an opponent for this date, according to Ige, a fight never took place.

“The night of the fight, the UFC matchmakers told me they were working on something,” Ige told MMA Fighting. “I saw fights being announced. I was just sitting there waiting and then I saw (Dana White) was about to announce the Noche card. I was in strength and conditioning, it was Friday and he said he would announce it. So I thought, maybe I’ll be there. Maybe I just don’t know. Let’s see what happens.

“At the end they announce the card. Going out there and fighting a Mexican fighter just didn’t work out. There was no fighter available. We asked about Yair (Rodriguez) because he’s one of the top 15 alongside (Brian) Ortega and Lopes, who were already fighting. He was on the list but wasn’t ready until November or December. So we just kept going.”

Ige eventually received an offer to face Lerone Murphy at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi and immediately accepted the match.

Of course, there was a moment as he flew halfway around the world to get to the event where Ige thought he had another change of opponent when a false report spread that Murphy was out and replaced by Brazilian youngster Jean Silva was replaced.

“I was literally on a plane. I was flying over the Atlantic at the time, saw the tweet and asked myself, “What’s this?” Ige said. “Then I was attacked by reporters. I tweeted “Fake News” because I didn’t hear anything. I actually go and look, check my email. There are no emails. I texted Sean Shelby that I felt like I was trying to take a nap. I’m like bro, is this real? I get attacked by reporters and he said “fake.” It is what it is.

“I would have been ready. Because I didn’t come all the way here not to fight. Whatever, it is what is. We fight on Saturday, whoever it is. I’ll be ready.”

Although he would have happily accepted anyone as an opponent, Ige is obviously glad that didn’t happen because playing against an undefeated competitor like Murphy gives him the chance to take a bigger step forward in his career.

“We got the Lerone Murphy (fight). “It’s a great fight for an outstanding pay-per-view,” Ige said. “In my opinion, this PPV, this card, this lineup is stacked. It’s an exciting fight card. It’s a big fight card in the middle of a PPV, so I really have no complaints and I can fight my way up the rankings.”

Ige was scheduled to face Murphy earlier this year, but an injury forced the British featherweight out of the bout.

Now Ige is excited to finally face him, especially after Murphy picked up an impressive win over Edson Barboza in May.

“Lerone was a guy we had our eye on because we were booked before and then he was ranked ahead of me,” Ige said. “So I knew he was an option. Even guys having my back doesn’t matter. I fought who’s who. I fought the guys that came at me. I gave a lot of guys good chances to fight for the rankings.

“For me to go out there and fight a No. 11 guy and give myself a chance to climb the rankings again, I can’t complain about that.”