Britain's next UFC champion? Lerone Murphy takes crucial step in Josh Emmett clash

Independent

03-04-2025

Britain has a serious UFC title contender on its hands – and it may not be who you think.
Manchester featherweight Lerone Murphy has not been spoken about nearly enough when it comes to the country's top-level prospects in the UFC. Undefeated at 14-0-1, 'The Miracle' doesn't know what it's like to lose as a pro and boasts impressive scalps in his last two fights: Dan Ige and Edson Barboza.
He returns to action in the main-event slot this weekend against featherweight's most-feared puncher Josh Emmett, a fighter famed for sending the ever-outspoken Bryce Mitchell into convulsions with one deadly right.
However, as was the case for his previous outing against MMA icon Barboza, Murphy is back fighting at the fan-starved UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The venue initially housed UFC events during the pandemic days, now stages many Fight Nights, and given its distinct lack of atmosphere, it is an unenviable location for fighters trying to make their mark in the sport.
Murphy hasn't yet had much of an issue with the Apex. His dominant decision victory over Barboza in May 2024, which was also the headliner, earned Fight of the Night honours. Nevertheless, Murphy has had enough of fighting in front of nobody – and if he beats Emmett, he wants a homecoming title shot in Manchester.
'I'll be asking for a title shot for sure,' Murphy told The Independent. 'I believe this is the No 1 contender fight. I would love that [title fight] in the UK. I've not fought in the UK now in nearly two years, so it'd be good to get back in front of the home fans and have my family there and whatnot, that'd be amazing.
'I missed out on the last Manchester card because I fought a five-round fight maybe six weeks before. I missed out on that card but hopefully I get to fight and headline a card there. That would be the main goal.'
If it were up to Murphy, he would have thrown down with Emmett two weeks ago, having eagerly expressed a desire to fight on the UFC London card at the O2 Arena.
The event was built around former welterweight champion Leon Edwards, whose main event against Sean Brady did not go to plan as 'Rocky' failed to bounce back from losing his belt to Belal Muhammad last summer.
Even if it meant sacrificing his five-round fight with Emmett, Murphy was still keen to compete in front of a partisan London crowd – but with Emmett refusing to enter enemy territory, a neutral venue was instead landed on.
'I asked for London,' Murphy revealed. 'Josh Emmett didn't want to go to London, so that's why we're in the Apex.
'With guys like Josh Emmett, he's a big name in the US, he's a legend. He doesn't have to do certain things if he doesn't want to, and obviously the home crowd would've played into my hands.'
Featherweight has considerably opened up since former champion Ilia Topuria relinquished the belt to move up a division, with the 28-year-old now looking to write himself deeper into UFC legend by dethroning unshakeable lightweight champ Islam Makhachev.
While at one point it seemed featherweight was destined to be ruled by a reign of terror in an era of Topuria dominance, that is now not the case, with a new champion set to be crowned at UFC 314 just seven days after Murphy's fight.
'The Miracle' will be keeping a keen eye on the event's headliner between former champion Alexander Volkanovski and rising star Diego Lopes, intent on challenging whoever gets their arm raised next.
But even without Topuria around, Murphy insists the division is still stacked in quality, hailing 145lb as the strongest in the promotion.
'Ilia is obviously next level, a great fighter and a great champion. But I still believe everybody else is just as good,' he added. 'You've got Volkanovski in there, you've got Lopes in there, you've got Patricio Pitbull who's just come over. The featherweight division is the best division in the world, so regardless of if Ilia is there or not, there's always good competition in there anyway.
'Me and Emmett, I believe we are the best after Volkanovski and Lopes and have the most to get the championship.'