LONDON — Russia’s Movsar Evloev crashed the London party on Saturday night, beating Manchester native Lerone Murphy by majority decision in an impressive performance amid the backdrop of a hostile crowd at the O2 Arena.
Evloev (20-0) stayed unbeaten and is likely to be next in line for a shot at Alexander Volkanovski’s featherweight belt.
In front of a bouncing O2, Murphy (17-1-1) started fast but failed to assert himself against the UFC’s No. 1 contender at 145 pounds. With the fight close, Evloev was penalized one point for low blows in the fourth round, raising the possibility of a draw, but he finished strong and ultimately had his hand raised to silence the crowd in the English capital.
Two judges scored it 48-46 for Evloev, while the third judge scored it a 47-47 draw.
Evloev looked far more skillful when he grappled with Murphy, but he was content to stand and strike for large parts and even managed to look fresher and quicker in those exchanges.
“I told [you] I’m going to strike with him,” Evloev said in the cage afterward. “With my head coach we prepare level change, takedowns and then punches. I think my punches are hard. I hurt him even if I didn’t finish him. Look at his face, he’s damaged. I showed that I don’t necessarily need to use my wrestling.”
Evloev went on to call out Volkanovski for a title bout.
“Alex mentioned my name a lot of times. I accept this challenge. Let’s fight,” Evloev said. “UFC, there is no excuse to not let me fight for the title.”
The first two rounds of Saturday’s fight saw both featherweights engage in a gripping striking battle, as Evloev kept his grappling advances brief. Evloev finished with a 124-89 advantage in total strikes and was successful in nine of his 10 takedowns, looking in cruise control whenever he decided to shoot against Murphy.
The fourth round brought a significant moment, as referee Marc Goddard took a point away from Evloev for low blows. But Murphy failed to take advantage, delivering arguably his poorest effort in the last two rounds, with Evloev taking him down seemingly at will.
Murphy said afterward that his hip “popped” in the third round but said he took nothing away from Evloev, even urging the UFC to give him the title shot next.
“Sorry, London fans,” Murphy said. “Sorry to let you down. I give it my all, but obviously it wasn’t enough.”
Evloev now looks a certainty to face Volkanovski next, while Murphy will have to bounce back from his first professional loss in MMA.
In the co-main event, Liverpool’s Luke Riley scored a comfortable unanimous decision victory over American Michael Aswell.
In an entertaining fight that saw both fighters connect on a number of solid shots, Next Generation MMA’s Riley (13-0) took a 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 win on the judges’ scorecards.
Riley, now 2-0 in the UFC, shouldered big expectations coming into Saturday’s fight, and while he couldn’t deliver a big finish, he did put on a striking clinic against a tough opponent in Aswell Jr. (11-4).
Speaking in the cage after the fight, Riley rated his performance a 5 out of 10.
Earlier in the night, Riley’s Next Gen teammate Shem Rock fell to Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady by decision to go 0-2 to start his career in the UFC.