The UFC will be returning the UFC Apex in Las Vegas after a trip to St Louis last weekend. This weekend the UFC will be hosting an exciting featherweight match-up between Edson Barboza and Lerone Murphy on May 18th, 2024. Lerone Murphy will be looking to make a statement on Saturday night in this competitive featherweight division. A win for each fighter could bring them up into title contention to face Ilia Topuria.
Lerone Murphy Journey to the UFC
Before being able to sign for the UFC Lerone Murphy started as a 4-0 amature fighter. Lerone Murphy was able to get 2 knockouts, 1 submission and a unanimous decision victory. One of those victories came against Matthew Bonner who Murphy was able to get the decision victory over. Bonner ended up turning professional himself and went on to claim the Cage Warriors Middleweight title.
This amature career allowed Murphy to start his professional career off in Full Contact Contender (FCC) against Martin Fouda. Lerone Murphy was able to start his career off the right way being able to clinch a unanimous decision victory. Murphy was then able to find a knockout in his next outing when he faced Tyler Thomas. This was a first-round knockout and set up a fight against Jamie Lee. Lerone Murphy was then able to go on to win his next 3 fights in the first round due to knockout.
Murphy then found himself in his first main event fight when he went up against James McErlean. Lerone Murphy was able to capitalise on the opportunity to main event and got the decision victory. Murphy was able to follow it up with a victory against Ayton De Paepe. This victory came due to a decision. This gave Murphy his first title opportunity against Manolo Scianna for the FCC Featherweight title. Lerone Murphy stepped up to the occasion and got the title by knocking out Scianna in the first round. This victory gave Murphy his ticket to the UFC.
Lerone Murphy’s UFC Career Journey
Lerone Murphy is a 32-year-old rising British prospect who fights out of Manchester, England. Murphy is coming into this fight with an impressive 13-0-1 record and made his UFC debut in 2019. After securing a split draw in his first UFC fight. Lerone Murphy has been able to go on a 5 fight winning streak. Lerone Murphy is known for having an aggressive fighting style which has helped him to achieve 7 knockout finishes in his 14 professional fights. While having power in his hands he also is very well-rounded since he has been able to achieve a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which makes him a threat on the ground as well as on the feet.
While Lerone Murphy has an undefeated record is rather impressive, what it does lack is a big-name fighter. This is due to Murphy only facing mostly lower-level opponents even in the UFC. His most notable victory to date is currently is victory against Douglas Silva de Andrade back in January 2021 by unanimous decision. Lerone Murphy will be looking to make a statement this weekend when he faces his toughest test in Edson Barboza.
Significant Stats
Lerone Murphy and Edson Barboza have a lot of similarities on paper. While they are similar Murphy will be heading into this fight at a slight disadvantage due to Murphy standing at 5 feet 9 while Barboza stands at 5 feet 11. This disadvantage is also a factor when it comes to reach an advantage. This is due to Murphy having a reach of 73.5 inches whereas Barboza has a 1.5-inch advantage at 75 inches. Lerone Murphy also prefers to fight out of an orthodox stance.
Murphy currently lands 3.65 significant strikes per minute which is slightly less than Barboza who has been landing 4.18 strikes per minute. However, while he doesn’t land as many strikes he is the more accurate striker. This is due to Murphy landing 57.37% of his strikes compared to Barboza who is only able to land at an accuracy rate of 46.02%.
Barboza however, has shown he can get the fight to the ground better than Murphy. This is due to Barboza being able to land a takedown with an accuracy of 50% of his attempts compared to Murphy who lands a takedown 46.15% of the time. While Barboza can get the fight to the ground at a higher success rate it is Murphy who has more success on the ground. This is due to Murphy landing a submission of 0.86 submissions per 15 minutes. This is more than Barboza who lands a submission 0.09 per 15 minutes.
Lerone Murphy against Edson Barboza Fight Analyses
This fight has got a lot of promise to be very exciting for fight fans. This is due to both these fighters having an aggressive style and prefer having a fast-paced battle. Murphy will be able to put Barboza through a lot of pressure which will test his Muay Thai skills. Murphy’s undefeated record and aggressive style of fighting will make him a very difficult opponent and will make Barboza work to be able to get the victory. If Murphy can avoid Barboza’s powerful kicks and be able to get the fight to the ground to be able to showcase his Jiu-Jitsu Skills. While on the ground there is a very real threat of Murphy being able to get his first submission victory inside the cage.
Prediction
Murphy has all the talents to be able to get the victory this Saturday. I feel these two will have a very fast-paced style and will look to use that early to get an advantage. However, I feel Barboza will try to slow Murphy down by using his leg kicks. This is where Murphy will be able to use his grappling skills to get the fight to the ground. Murphy will be able to use his ground game as well as the stand-up game to his advantage and I feel we will see him get his hand raised this weekend due to a decision.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
