UFC on ESPN 65: Lerone Murphy frustrates Josh Emmett, stays unbeaten
Knowing his opponent has the power to put heads in the third row, Lerone Murphy seemed to have a simple game plan.
Murphy (16-0-1 MMA, 8-0-1 UFC) stayed busy dancing on the outside against Josh Emmett (19-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) in an attempt to stay away from Emmett's power. And while Emmett appeared to be close several times, he never could put Murphy away.
For his part, Murphy's striking was solid en route to a pair of 48-47 scores and a 49-46 to stay unbeaten with his eighth straight win.
Murphy said afterward he would love a featherweight title shot – or at the very least, a crack at someone in the top five to get him closer to the belt. The featherweight title was vacated earlier this year by Ilia Topuria, and former champ Alexander Volkanovski will take on Diego Nunes for the belt at UFC 314 next week.
The featherweight bout was the UFC on ESPN 65 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Afterward, on the post-fight show, Murphy said he wants a fight against Brian Ortega on his next step up the ladder.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 65 results include:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC on ESPN 65.
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