Outside Source
Lerone Murphy thought he’d clinched a title shot by knocking out Aaron Pico. | Getty/UFC
Last summer in Chicago, Lerone Murphy thought a title shot was all but inevitable.
After all, he had just knocked out highly-regarded Bellator MMA signee Aaron Pico with a spinning back elbow in the first round at UFC 319. Not only was it a “Knockout of the Year” candidate, but it extended the Englishman’s promotional winning streak to nine. The performance also caught the attention of reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
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However, Murphy did not get the championship opportunity he anticipated. Instead, it went to Diego Lopes, who only needed to earn one victory to earn a rematch with Volkanovski at UFC 325.
“To be completely honest, it was rough,” Murphy told the UFC. “After the fight in Chicago, I thought I’d done enough. Everyone thought I’d done enough. I go out there, co-main event, step in on short notice and get a KO like that on short notice over a highly-touted prospect — I thought I’d done enough.
“I was training. I thought I was gonna fight in December. The champ was calling me out, so I thought it was inevitable. I started training, and I found out it was not gonna be me for that fight. It was kind of hearbreaking, I won’t lie. It kind of threw me off.”
Now, Murphy will have to prove himself once again when he faces the unbeaten Movsar Evloev in the UFC London main event on Saturday. The matchup is likely to decide the next No. 1 contender at 145 pounds, but as Murphy knows, nothing in the UFC is guaranteed.
“It’s just another fight for me,” Murphy said. “I understand that it’s a title eliminator, it’s a very important fight. But every fight is important to me. I treat them all the same.”
A Taste for Blood
One thing that may have been slowing Murphy’s rise to contention was the lack of finishes on his UFC resume. That’s why the knockout of Pico was integral to re-establishing “The Iceman” as a competitor capable of delivering excitement in the Octagon. Though to hear Murphy tell it, he never lost confidence in his abilities as a fight ender.
“It reaffirmed I could finish, I could knock people out,” Murphy said. “I knew I could do that. Sometimes you just need the dance partner to do that. Obviously Pico was aggressive, comes forward. So he gave me the opportunity to do that. Now tasting some blood again, I want some more. I’ll be looking for the finish.”
A knockout could prove to be a tall task against Evloev, who hasn’t tasted defeat in 19 professional outings. Murphy is prepared for all possibilities.
“I’m expecting a five-round war. I’ve trained hard, I’ve worked hard. I’m ready to go. I’m excited,” he said. “A perfect performance would be a finish. A big KO, whatever way that comes. That’s a perfect performance for me — getting in and out. Five rounds is a long time to fight. In a perfect world we get it done in the first round.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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