Unbeaten Murphy chases biggest scalp of his career

Lerone Murphy will chase the biggest scalp of his MMA career when he faces veteran Edson Barboza in the featherweight main event of a Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 19 May 2024.

Murphy (13-0-1) is unbeaten in his career and has put together a five-fight win streak from 2020 to 2023, most recently defeating Joshua Culibao via unanimous decision in July of last year.

The 32-year-old Englishman, dubbed ‘The Miracle’ for surviving a shooting in 2013 and a cycling accident in 2022, is happy to live under the pressure of having an unbeaten record.

“What’s happened happened, but also I feel like I’ve got bigger fish to fry,” Murphy said. “I’m heading for the top, I want the top contenders.”

He added, “Like the saying, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and it’s [being unbeaten] made me stronger in mindset and stuff like that.

“But I understand why fighters do feel like that, because in this game, a loss is like a year setback. Obviously it’s a small window as an athlete, so I do get the pressure.”

Barboza (24-11) is a veteran of 35 professional MMA fights and is chasing a third straight win, having beaten Billy Quarantillo (first-round knockout) and Sodiq Yusuf (unanimous decision) in the past 13 months.

The 38-year-old Brazilian remains as hungry for the fight as ever: “It’s funny because I think my last 10 fights have been with people younger than me, I’m [still] stood here, I’m still one of the best in the world. I feel better than ever, great training for five rounds. It’s going to be a war, I train for war. It’s going to be 25 minutes of war.”

The rest of the fight card includes a co-main welterweight clash between Khaos Williams and Carlston Harris, as well as Zimbabwean welterweight Themba Gorimbo chasing a third straight win when he faces Ramiz Brahimaj.

UFC FIGHT NIGHT: Barboza v Murphy – Fight card

- Main event: Featherweight: Edson Barboza v Lerone Murphy

- Welterweight: Khaos Williams v Carlston Harris

- Light heavyweight: Oumar Sy v Rodolfo Bellato

- Bantamweight: Adrian Yanez v Vinicius Salvador

- Women’s strawweight: Luana Pinheiro v Angela Hill

- Welterweight: Themba Gorimbo v Ramiz Brahimaj

- Middleweight: Abus Magomedov v Warlley Alves

- Lightweight: Victor Martinez v Tom Nolan

- Women’s Bantamweight: Hailey Cowna v Tamires Vidal

- Women’s strawweight: Piera Rodriguez vc Ariane Carnelossi

- Women’s strawweight: Vanessa Demopuolos v Emily Ducote