Lerone Murphy admits getting bypassed for UFC title shot was ‘kind of heartbreaking’

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.

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.”