For as quietly as unbeaten Lerone Murphy has snuck up on the UFC featherweight title picture, his spinning back elbow knockout of Aaron Pico last August — on short notice, no less — proved to be a resoundingly loud statement that his ascension upon the rankings can no longer be denied. 

“I’m used to people overlooking me,” Murphy told CBS Sports HQ on Tuesday. “I’m like the silent assassin. I come in and people underestimate me. That’s the worst thing they can ever do.”

Although the 34-year-old native of Manchester, England, did not get the immediate title shot he coveted by recording his ninth straight win inside the Octagon, Murphy (17-0-1) was given what likely amounts to one more chance to prove himself in Saturday’s final eliminator. 

Murphy, the No. 3 ranked featherweight, will enter as a slight betting underdog when he faces fellow unbeaten and No. 1 ranked Movsar Evloev (19-0) inside the O2 Arena in the main event of UFC Fight Night in London (special start time of 4 p.m. ET on Paramount+). Even though neither fighter has been guaranteed a title shot with a win, the expectations remain that a strong performance from the winner should be enough. 

Sign up for Paramount+ and Watch UFC Fight Night: Evloev vs. Murphy for no additional fee — every UFC numbered event and UFC Fight Night is included with your subscription! Plans start as low as $8.99/month or $89.99/year!

While Murphy, who replaced an injured Evloev against Pico, isn’t bitter about being passed over by matchmakers for Alex Volkanovski’s February title defense in Australia at UFC 235, he did call the champion’s subsequent decision win over Diego Lopes, whom Volkanovski fought for the second straight time, an “I told you so” moment. 

“For sure, I thought that all fingers pointed in [my] direction [after knocking out Pico,]” Murphy said. “Obviously, before I stepped in, people were saying Movsar and Pico were in a No. 1 contender fight. I took that fight on short notice in the co-main event and KOed him in spectacular fashion on a big card. I thought straight away there was no one else Volkanovski could’ve fought and I thought I would be the guy.”

Evloev, a 32-year-old from Russia, has been slowed down considerably by a series of injuries and illnesses in recent years that have limited him to just four fights over the past four years. The good news for Evloev’s title hopes, however, is that all four fights came against elite competition — Dan Ige, Lopez, Arnold Allen and Aljamain Sterling — that made his inclusion in such a fight as this inevitable. 

Murphy, on the other hand, has embarked upon a journey over the past 15 years of his adult life that has been anything but normal, predictable or easy. So, when tasked with the challenge of waiting for his moment against all odds, Murphy can take solace in the fact that he has learned to feel a sense of destiny carrying him throughout each difficult step up the ladder. 

“I’m wired differently. I believe I’m cut from a different cloth,” Murphy said. “Many people wouldn’t have even started training after what I went through.”

If it isn’t already crazy enough to consider that Murphy didn’t begin training MMA until the age of 22, what happened to him one year prior in 2013 is almost unthinkable. 

Years after a teenage knee injury cut short his goal of becoming a professional soccer player, a 21-year-old Murphy had graduated college but severely lacked direction. After falling into local gang culture, he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time exiting a barber shop when a car drove by and shot him three times in the neck and face. 

A conscious Murphy went to spit out blood and bullets literally came out onto the sidewalk next to him. He lost teeth, needed a tracheotomy to breathe and spent a week in intensive care. To this day, he still has a bullet shard embedded in his tongue. 

Not only did Murphy miraculously survive, however, the experience turned his life around as he began training MMA in earnest the following year. Five years later, he made his UFC debut in 2019, fighting Zubaira Tukhugov to an exciting split draw at UFC 242 in a fight that would trigger the nine-bout winning streak that followed. 

But that’s not where Murphy, who aptly calls himself “The Miracle,” would see his setbacks and challenges end. In 2022, just seven months after a highlight-reel knockout of Makwan Amirkhani raised his UFC profile considerably, Murphy was struck by a car in a cycling accident that left him bleeding with a head injury. 

The accident became yet another near-fatal experience when it took an ambulance 45 minutes to arrive on the scene, nearly causing Murphy to bleed to death. Murphy, who was told he would never fight again, somehow returned to the Octagon just 10 months later when he took a split decision from Gabriel Santos in London.

“I think it’s destiny and I believe it’s my calling to then pass this story on to the younger generation,” Murphy said. “There are a lot of people who go through things and come across some hurdles and they are not able to get past it. I believe I’m the person able to show people it is doable, especially from the kids coming from deprived areas. That is one of my goals to do after fighting, to get these guys the opportunity and mindset to look around them and do better.

“I just think it’s consistency, faith and having a good support system around you. Because it’s like, if you have no one to lean on in tough times, it’s hard but if you have a good support system, I believe you are stronger than anything.”

Against Evloev, the task is simple for Murphy, who has yielded at least four takedowns in five of his 10 UFC bouts — keep his back off of the mat. Should the fight be a five-round kickboxing match, the advantage moves quickly into the favor of Murphy but that won’t be easy considering Evloev averages just shy of five takedowns per 15 minutes. 

But at the end of the day, especially after exciting Brazilian striker Jean Silva has already publicly announced that he believes he is next for Volkanovski, Murphy knows that a victory isn’t enough. He will need to be exciting. 

“I think everybody knows what the guys from that region do. Movsar is an excellent grappler, wrestler and I think it’s clear as day that are his strengths,” Murphy said. “I think he’s well-rounded and can fight everywhere but I just believe in myself. I just think I’m very creative, very smart in there. I don’t just fight. I’m always setting things up, I’m always changing distance and letting it go. I think that’s just where the difference will be. 

“I think he can hang with anyone on the feet for a certain time but I think the longer he stands with me, the greater chance he has of getting knocked out. I just want to go out there and have a good fight. I don’t want the fight to be boring, I just want to have a good fight.”

/ @lockedoncollegefootball  

Senegal football fans Wednesday slammed the decision to strip the country of its Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and give it to Morocco, calling the move a “disgrace for Africa” as their country demands an investigation.

Gora Ndiaye, a resident of Dakar who works as a driver, told AFP he felt like he had “been hit over the head” when he heard the news on the radio.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) sensationally stripped Senegal of their title late Tuesday, citing regulations about leaving the field, which players did near the end of the final two months ago.

“If this law was applicable, it should have been applied immediately and the cup should have been awarded to the Moroccans”, Ndiaye said, calling the move “a disgrace for Africa”.

Read moreSenegal to appeal being stripped of AFCON title, handing 2025 championship to Morocco

With the news ricocheting across social media and the airwaves Wednesday fans are now waiting for the results of a promised appeal by their country’s football authorities.

Senegal’s government additionally called for “an independent international investigation into suspected corruption within the CAF’s governing bodies”.

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.

Advertisement

Accept


Manage my choices

One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.

Try again

Several Senegalese players walked off the pitch in protest during the final in Rabat on January 18 when the hosts were awarded a penalty late in second-half stoppage time.

After Senegal’s players were coaxed back onto the pitch by captain Sadio Mane, Morocco missed the penalty. Pape Gueye then scored in extra time to give Senegal a 1-0 victory.

Advertisement

CAF said that having studied an appeal by Morocco, “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match” and the result was “officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of Morocco.

“I started by laughing and being surprised at the same time, because it really shocked me that two months later they took away our victory”, Assietou Diallo, a 25-year-old accounting assistant, told AFP from downtown Dakar.

Senegalese news outlets were unanimous, with headlines such as “Big Continental Farce”, “Joke of the Century” and “Unprecedented Scandal”.

Waiting for appeal

Senegal’s football authorities said they will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the next 48 hours, condemning what they said was an “unjust, unprecedented and unacceptable decision”.

Advertisement

Senegal defender Moussa Niakhate posted a photo on Instagram of himself holding the Africa Cup and wearing a medal, with the comment “Come and get them! They’re crazy!”

Senegal fans maintain that even if the team are stripped of their trophy, they are still the true victor in the eyes of spectators.

“We played and we won”, Senegal supporter Khola Diouf told AFP from Dakar, pointing to Morocco’s missed penalty in the final moments of the game, adding that “the whole world is witnessing and knows that Senegal deserves the cup”.

The trophy, said Ndiaye the driver, “is an object” and even “if we give it to the Moroccans, you have to know that Senegal beat them on the field”.

Advertisement

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.

Accept


Manage my choices

One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.

Try again

In Rabat, where the match was played, fans were decidedly in favour even if less emotional, as they prepared their final shopping ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, marking the end of Ramadan.

Advertisement

“Everyone is happy with this outcome”, Mohamed Amine Boujdaini, a 53-year-old lawyer, told AFP, adding “the cup returns to its rightful home”.

Omar Haryate, a 70-year-old retiree, meanwhile said “justice has been served”.

The CAF Appeals Committee justified its decision by applying Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON Regulations. They state that if a team “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee, it shall be considered (loser) and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition”.

The articles add the team contravening the regulations “will lose its match by 3-0”.

Advertisement

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)