After falling short at UFC London, what’s next for Lerone Murphy?

This past Saturday in the main event of UFC London, we saw a potential title eliminator in the featherweight division. Two undefeated top contenders clashed as Movsar Evloev (20-0) took on England’s Lerone Murphy (17-1-1).

Heading into the fight, I figured it was a pretty straightforward breakdown. Evloev would need to get takedowns while Murphy would need to keep things standing. Well, for the first few rounds, Evloev didn’t even try to take the fight to the ground.

The striking was close in the first three rounds and I personally had it 2-1 Murphy entering the fourth. Evloev clearly won the fourth and fifth rounds giving him three rounds on my card. However, Evloev got a point taken away in the third so I scored the UFC London main event a draw.

I’ve watched the fight a few times now and I really struggle giving Evloev four rounds. I think Murphy did enough to win at least two of the three first rounds and you can make the argument that he won all three rounds more than you can make the argument that Evloev won two of them in my opinion.

I left thinking that Evloev won the majority of rounds and was better, but I didn’t think he got the nod. In the end, two of the judges gave him four rounds and Evloev won the UFC London main event by majority decision.

What’s next after UFC London?

Again, I left the fight on Saturday night believing that Movsar Evloev was the better of the two fighters. However, I do think that Murphy did enough to at least get a draw if not win the decision himself. I feel bad for the man because he should’ve gotten a title shot following his Aaron Pico knockout and now he loses a very questionable decision.

Nevertheless, Murphy will get back at it once he heals up and he’s still a top contender in the UFC’s featherweight division. In terms of what’s next for him, I’d look for names like Yair Rodriguez or I’d look at Murphy potentially facing the winner of Aljamain Sterling – Youssef Zalal. He’s still right in the mix and I don’t think he loses much ground after Saturday night.

By Daniel Cunningham

My name is Daniel, and I love MMA. My goal is provide the best possible coverage of the MMA ... More about Daniel Cunningham