Lerone Murphy won’t ‘be an actor’ to get title shot

LAS VEGAS – Lerone Murphy knows that eventually, there comes a point where winning solves everything, and that’s the mentality he brings into Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 65 headliner vs. Josh Emmett.

Murphy (15-0-1 MMA, 7-0-1 UFC) has never lost a fight to this point in his career, and he intends to keep that streak going when he takes on Emmett (19-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in a five-round featherweight headliner at the UFC Apex (ESPN, ESPN+). It’s a fight he specifically asked for after beating Dan Ige in October, and now he wants to show the promotion it made the right call granting his wish.

“It’s a massive challenge,” Emmett old reporters, including MMA Junkie, at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 64 media day. “Biggest challenge of my career so far, but I’m ready for that and I’ve trained hard for this. So the outcome will be the outcome. That’s it. Simple as that. I didn’t ask for this fight for no reason. I asked for the fight because I know Josh Emmett’s a warrior. I know how good he is and I know that’ll bring the best out of me.”

The timing of the fight couldn’t be much better for Murphy. Just one week after his main event, Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes will fight for the 145-pound title vacated by Ilia Topuria when they meet in the UFC 314 headliner on April 12 in Miami.

It’s Murphy’s intentions to show he is the right man to challenge whoever the new champion is.

“Ilia Topuria went on to fight for the title after Josh Emmett, so for me, this is a No. 1 contender fight,” Murphy said. “I feel like behind Lopes and Volkanovski, who are fighting the week after, I think this is the best fight in the division. For me, this is the No. 1 contender fight. I’m looking forward to it.”

What Murphy, 33, thinks about his positioning compared to how the UFC brass and fans view him are two entirely different things, though. Murphy said he understands this, and thus far he has struggled a bit to gain traction where it arguably means the most.

Murphy refuses to sell out and showcase himself as anything other than what his core valuable represent, though. If that means it takes him a little longer to get where he wants to be, then the Brit said he can live with that.

“I’m here to provide for my family and get that title and I don’t really care about anything else,” Murphy said. “But it’s probably because I’m quiet and reserved. That’s the only thing I can put that too, because if anybody else, especially in the UK, any of the UK fighters had the record I had and beat who I’ve beat, then you already know. It is what it is though.”

“I’m always going to be me. I’m never going to be fake. I could be fake and be an actor, but I’m always going to stick to what feels good for me. I’m just going to let my fighting do the talking and keep stacking up those wins, and surely after a bit, everyone will get behind me.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 65.