After coming out on top against Dan Ige last time out, the Brit called for a fight with Josh Emmett with his wish being granted several months later.

The American has fought some of the very best that the featherweight division has to offer and with his ruthless knockout power that has delivered some scary finishes, Emmett is always a threat.

This won’t worry the undefeated contender who has overcome significant adversity in life, including two near-death experiences that Murphy has faced before becoming a top featherweight contender.

Lerone Murphy was shot twice in 2013 and spat the bullets out

You don’t earn a nickname like ‘The Miracle’ without having a story behind it and Lerone Murphy certainly has that even if he’s somewhat reluctant to talk about it in detail.

In 2013, a 21-year-old Murphy was shot twice in a drive-by outside of a barbershop that was motivated by the gang culture in Manchester at the time.

He recapped the story and one particularly remarkable moment in an interview with The Athletic ahead of his UFC debut at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi.

“It just went black. Do you know what — have you played ‘Call of Duty’? When you get shot, it goes, beeeeeeeeeeep. It was like that. So I get shot, I went on the floor, I woke up, and it’s just like, beeeeeeeeeeep. That’s all I could hear.

“And I stood up, and it felt like my mouth was heavy. So I spat on the floor, and the bullets came out on the floor. And I jumped in my cousin’s car, and we went to the hospital.”

After months of recovery, Murphy signed up to a nearby MMA gym that had recently opened up the very same year and with seven consecutive UFC wins under his belt, he hasn’t looked back since.

Spending time in the gym gave the Brit something to really focus on and this dedication has completely changed his life.

Murphy might not be keen on speaking about this part of his life but there will be people out there who also find themselves in difficult positions who can find inspiration in his story.

Lerone Murphy contemplated changing his nickname because he doesn’t want to glorify it

Lerone Murphy planned on retiring his nickname for some time and for a good reason.

He doesn’t enjoy glorifying the situation that he found himself in because of the influence it could have on others by people thinking that it’s cool whilst he doesn’t see it this way in the slightest.

“It’s not something fun; it’s not a cool story,” Murphy said on ‘The Craic with Petesy Carroll’. “Maybe it is to other people, but it’s not something I want to be known for. Obviously, my son will one day ask me about it, but imagine him typing that into YouTube and him seeing all of this come up, do you know what I mean? It’s negative, who cares? I don’t.”

On April 5, Murphy looks to continue his incredible rise in the UFC with his current accomplishments more than overshadowing how his journey in mixed martial arts first started.

“I want people to know me as a good fighter and not the guy that got shot,” he added. “I feel I’ve done enough in this game already to recognized as a solid fighter.”

Ahead of their clash at the Kaseya Center, Rodriguez and the 37-year-old have gotten slightly heated with each other after Pitbull leaked DM’s between the two despite there initially being respect between them.

Rodriguez has been critical of himself ahead of his fight, claiming that he hasn’t taken previous fight camps seriously and that he will be rectifying that going forward as he looks to continue to prove his contendership at 145lbs.

One camp that he did take seriously, though, was when he fought Chan Sung Jung in 2018 at the UFC’s 25th anniversary Fight Night event.

Yair Rodriguez scored one of the most unique KOs of all time

On November 10, 2018, the UFC returned to Denver, Colorado, the city where the historical UFC 1 event was held.

Atop of the card was an incredible featherweight fight between ‘El Pantera’ and ‘The Korean Zombie’, which provided five incredible rounds of action.

The Mexican striker showcased his unique arsenal of kicking, punching, and elbowing throughout the first few rounds, with the fan-favorite Korean also showcasing his veteran toughness.

After a close four rounds, in which two of the three judges had Zombie three rounds up, the two stepped out for the final round.

The final round played out rather bizarrely, both bloodied and bruised at that point, and several times throughout the round, they stopped fighting to embrace each other.

With just 10 seconds left in the fight, Rodriguez and Chan Sung Jung stopped fighting, both raising their arms before meeting in the center of the Octagon and throwing down for the last few seconds.

With one second left on the clock, Zombie threw a left hand which Rodriguez ducked out of the way of, simultaneously throwing a completely unorthodox elbow, landing it on the chin of Zombie and folding him to the ground.

Joe Rogan reacted to Yair Rodriguez’s wild KO

Despite it being a monumental event in the history of the promotion, Joe Rogan wasn’t part of the commentary team, with it just being a Fight Night and not a PPV.

However, the UFC icon did run a fight companion episode on his YouTube channel and provided his immediate reaction to the crazy knockout.

“Oh, he flatlined him! Oh my god, oh my god! That was insane. Wow! That was insane. He’s still out; look at him. Wow! That is crazy. Was that on the buzzer? Upward elbow, insane. That was sweet, look at this, bang!

“What a beautiful elbow, bang! Wow, oh my god! So fantastic,” Rogan exclaimed.

His outspoken personality has led to some backlash from the MMA world in the past with Dana White and Joe Rogan pushing back against the comments he made about Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.

Whilst he doesn’t only have bad things to say, as evident in Smith’s recent praise of Jon Jones, he still has a tendency to say outlandish things.

The most controversial thing he’s ever said about MMA and the UFC in particular happened in 2021 when he made a comment about personal taste that left the majority of fans and the promotion’s roster itself questioning his statement.

Stephen A. Smith stated that he doesn’t want to watch women fight in the UFC

Back in 2021 during an episode of the Black on the Air podcast, Stephen A. Smith and Larry Wilmore got onto the subject of women in sports.

Whilst the three current female weight classes are deeply engrained into the UFC, at this point, there was a period of time where women didn’t compete inside the Octagon.

Dana White’s opinion on this matter changed over time largely due to the growing popularity of Ronda Rousey who competed in the first women’s fight in UFC history at UFC 157 in 2013 where she defended the bantamweight title against Liz Carmouche.

Smith has been known for some controversial takes in the past regarding women in sport and in this instance, the conversation had nothing to do with MMA or competing.

Despite the topic of discussion being about the first female general manager in the MLB and the first female NBA head coach, Smith went on a long-winded diversion.

He said that he was incredibly happy to see both of those things happen but, in his own words, he “jumps off the bandwagon when they try to engage physically.”

Smith goes on to say that he doesn’t want to see women fighting against men which is completely the opposite of a hot take however, he then makes a very different point.

“When I think about pugilistic sports, I don’t like seeing women involved in that at all. I just don’t like it. I wouldn’t promote legislating laws to prohibit them from doing so, but I don’t want to see women punching each other in the face. I don’t want to see women fighting in the octagon and stuff like that, but that’s just me.”

Stephen A. Smith was called out by several UFC stars for his comments

Several female fighters responded to Smith’s controversial comments about not wanting to watch women fight in the UFC.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk, who produced an instant classic title fight against Zhang Weili the year before, posted on social media to make it clear that they don’t need his go ahead in order to compete.

“I appreciate your transparency @stephenasmith. Although I wish everyone at ESPN—and throughout the world—saw women’s sports in a positive light, I assure you that we women don’t need your support.”

Molly McCann also gave her thoughts on the matter in an interview with Insider ahead of her fight with Lara Fritzen that took place several days after Smith’s comments.

“How can you say that when you’re on such a platform? Could you imagine Serena Williams watching that? It’s not just fighters he’ll have offended. It’s every sportswoman and maybe every sportsman. Stephen Smith needs to give his head a wobble. When I win on Saturday, I’m going to say something on the microphone: ‘I’ll see you in the car park!’”

‘Thug Nasty’ is one of the UFC’s most controversial stars, who is known for going on wacky, and often offensive, rants.

They’ve made him wildly unpopular with a large section of MMA fans. So, naturally, there were a lot of people celebrating when Josh Emmett brutally knocked him out cold with one shot.

Watch Josh Emmett brutally KO Bryce Mitchell

Mitchell’s decision to fight Emmett on two weeks’ notice badly backfired at UFC 296.

The submission specialist applied pressure from the very first bell, but he was made to pay for his aggression when Emmett detonated an atomic bomb on his chin.

Mitchell ran into a right hand that left him unconscious on the UFC Octagon floor.

Fans inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas went wild after Emmett scored one of the scariest knockouts in MMA history, and so did UFC commentators Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier.

However, their hysterical reaction quickly turned into concern when they noticed Mitchell was twitching on the floor after the first KO loss of his career – he was previously submitted by Ilia Topuria a year prior.

The UFC 296 commentators winced as they watched Mitchell try and fail to get back to his feet.

Thankfully, he eventually regained his senses and walked backstage on understandably unsteady legs.

What’s next for Josh Emmett and Bryce Mitchell?

Emmett will return to the Octagon for the first time since his fight with Mitchell on Saturday night.

The 40-year-old is set to square off against 15-0-1 star Lerone Murphy in the UFC Vegas 105 main event.

One week later, Mitchell will travel to Miami for a fight with Jean Silva at UFC 314, which recently took a major hit as a scrap between fan favorite knockout artists Geoff Neal and Carlos Prates was cancelled.

A big slam win over Kron Gracie allowed Mitchell to bounce back from his famous loss to Emmett.

Now he’ll look to re-establish himself as a true contender by taking out a hot UFC prospect.

However, he ended up suffering an embarrassing knockout loss to a 15-39 journeyman on Sunday evening.

It was a massive fall from grace for the Dana White Contender Series veteran, who was two rounds up before eating an illegal knee from Alexandr Soldatkin during a September 2023 UFC talent scouting show.

8-0 prospect KO’d by journeyman with 39 losses

The first two rounds of his DQ win wasn’t enough to get Piazzon a contract with MMA’s premier league.

Over the first 10 minutes, the heavyweights duo spent a lot of time grappling in the clinch against the fence during a dull fight that White was probably glad was over when an illegal shot landed just 20 seconds into the third frame.

Since then, Piazzon has picked up back-to-back stoppage wins to improve his perfect MMA record.

However, it was shattered by Alex ‘Marmaduke Junius during the Thunder Fight 47 main event.

A lead left hook dropped Piazzon before a follow-up ground strike put him out cold.

The third-round KO defeat against a fighter with 39 losses has surely set back the Brazilian’s UFC charge.

Fans react to Mario Piazzon losing his 0

Footage of Piazzon’s shock KO loss has quickly racked up thousands of views on social media.

Fans are a mixture of stunned and excited about Junius pulling off one of the craziest upsets of 2025.

“The beauty of regional MMA,” one fan said. While another added: “Isn’t this the reason we love MMA.”

“I knew Piazzon was a big fraud and this definitely proved it,” someone else commented.

“That’s MMA for you,” a fourth fan added.

“Ain’t no way,” a shocked viewer wrote.

“Watching this fight Alex Junius looks like the undefeated fighter with how he’s moving, how the f— has he gone 15-39???,” a sixth X user asked.

He has been involved in some of the most iconic moments inside the UFC Octagon, announcing greats like Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, and Anderson Silva.

Despite his history in the sport, fans fear that years of relentless travel could be catching up to Buffer and that he could be nearing the end of his career.

Bruce Buffer’s stance on retirement resurfaces following criticism

This past Saturday, the UFC returned to Mexico City for another Fight Night event, and of course, Buffer was on announcement duties.

During the event, fans noticed several mistakes made by the longtime announcer, which led to criticism. One blooper, though, stood out more than others, as he announced the wrong winner after the fight between Jamall Emmers and Gabriel Miranda.

Emmers scored a vicious knockout over Miranda in the very first round, making Buffer’s blooper even worse.

Of course, fans had a field day with Bruce’s blooper, with some even calling for the UFC mainstay to retire, as he also received criticism from UFC 313.

And with that, a recent interview Buffer did on The Ariel Helwani Show has resurfaced, as he spoke openly about when he thinks he will retire, comparing his career to his brother’s, Michael Buffer.

“The hardest part of my job is the travel,” Buffer began to explain.

“Michael’s 80 years old, and he’s traveling, still doing boxing. Now, the big thing for me is that Michael does one event a night, maybe two… I’m announcing 12-14 fights a night.

“As long as, again I’ll say it again, as long as mentally and physically I can do it the way I like to do it, I will do it for as long as I can do it and if that takes me to 80 years old or longer then so be it,” he continued.

Bruce Buffer admits he could decrease his activity

Instead of just immediately retiring from announcement duties, Buffer admitted that he could begin to taper down how often he works the events, claiming that he may move to doing only two events per month.

“If (the UFC) says it’s cool to do only a PPV when it comes down to that time, if I ever (decide) that’s all I want to do, then fine. Otherwise, I can see a fight night and a PPV, at least two shows per month to continue,” he stated.

When Buffer does decide to put the microphone down, the promotion has a more than suitable replacement already lined up, as Joe Martinez already takes Fight Night duties when Buffer isn’t around.

As always, the fans in attendance were passionately behind the Mexican fighters on the card who had a great night in total with several statement performances.

Whilst Joe Pyfer has vowed to never return to the country after his fight with Kelvin Gastelum was cancelled, two fighters in particular were overcome with emotion after getting their hands raised.

Moreno may have capped off the night in style but Edgar Chairez also left a lasting impact with his impactful post-fight interview after beating CJ Vergara.

Fabiano Buskei says the emotion got to him before interviewing Brandon Moreno and Edgar Chairez

Brandon Moreno and Edgar Chairez both secured big wins that led to them becoming emotional in their post-fight interviews for different reasons.

For Moreno, he was finally able to break his bad run of results when fighting in Mexico City after beating Steve Erceg over five rounds.

Chairez dedicated his first-round finish to his late grandfather, revealing that he sold his personal possessions to help the flyweight contender pay for significant surgery.

UFC translator Fabiano Buskei has often received praise for managing to convey the emotion and personality of a fighter during the immediate aftermath inside the Octagon.

One fan posted on X after the event to credit Buskei for his work in the Chairez interview as he got across the Mexican fighter’s message without losing any of the passion.

Buskei responded by saying that whilst he’s usually able to avoid becoming overwhelmed with emotion, this was particularly difficult in the cases of Moreno and Chairez because of their instant reactions to coming out on top.

“I’ve held back tears many times, being somewhat ‘saved’ by emotional things only coming up during the octagon interview. Last night, Chairez & Moreno had me in tears BEFORE I could even begin, because there was something very deep and real in the way they cried.”

You don’t have to look far to find praise for Fabiano Buskei’s work in Mexico City

After Brandon Moreno was declared the winner in the main event, his pose for the cameras quickly turned into an outpouring of tears and relief.

‘The Assassin Baby’ is an always incredibly passionate talker on the mic and Fabiano Buskei does an incredible job of matching that energy whilst being clear and concise.

Underneath the UFC’s video of Moreno’s post-fight interview on YouTube, the top comment with over 300 likes credits Buskei first and foremost.

“How can this guy be a translator in every language man is a legend !!!!”

Emphatic wins over the likes of Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier also firmly placed him in the conversation as the greatest lightweight fighter of all time.

Despite his sheer dominance in the sport, ‘The Eagle’ shockingly retired in 2020 after defending his title against Justin Gaethje.

Nurmagomedov’s son asked him hilarious question following retirement

Since his retirement from competing in the sport, Khabib has carried on the legacy of his late father, Abdulmanap’s gym, becoming one of the best coaches in the sport.

The 36-year-old is the head coach of the current UFC lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, as well as Bellator lightweight king, Usman Nurmagomedov, and his brother, Umar Nurmagomedov.

One of Khabib’s main reasons for retiring from the sport was that he promised his mother that he wouldn’t continue fighting without his father and because he had not long started a family of his own.

When he announced his shock UFC retirement, his son was only three years old, and with that, he wasn’t very aware of his father’s career in the UFC. Immediately after his retirement, Makhachev began his dominance in the division.

Nurmagomedov has since revealed a hilarious question that his son asked him regarding Makhachev.

“When I retired, he was only three years old, and he didn’t understand anything. (Years after my retirement) he asked me, ‘Father, can you fight like Islam Makhachev?’ and I’m like, ‘Why you ask that?’,” Khabib revealed during a Q&A.

“He said, ‘Because he’s a very good fighter and I never see you fight like him.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, this is a very good question.’” Khabib continued.

Despite coming from a family full of fighters, Khabib doesn’t want his son to grow up to become a professional athlete.

“Personally, like me, I don’t want him to become a professional athlete, but if he chooses to, what can I do? Honestly, I don’t want (him to), I just want him to become a normal human, professional athletes are not normal people,” he stated.

Khabib Nurmagomedov predicted how UFC career would end

Although ‘The Eagle’s’ UFC retirement came as a massive shock to the large majority of fans, considering he was still in his prime, the Russian actually had it planned for years.

Seven years before he retired, Khabib admitted that he would likely retire whilst he was undefeated because the sport ‘has no end’.

Since his retirement, he has been vocal regarding other fighters retiring at the right time, even prompting his former rival Poirier to retire.

Naturally, Dwayne Johnson lived the life of a fighter to prepare for his toughest role yet.

The 52-year-old documented his MMA training on social media, and he looked good to the untrained eye, but did he do enough to impress a man who lives and breathes the sport?

Dwayne Johnson’s MMA skills certified by ex-champion

The Smashing Machine will feature several cameos from people in the fight game, including pound-for-pound boxing superstar Oleksandr Usyk, who will play Kerr’s two-time opponent, Igor Vovchanchyn.

Former heavyweight and light heavyweight Bellator champion Ryan Bader also has a prominent role – he’ll portray UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman in the movie that is set to be released later this year.

Bader has mixed it with some of the greatest fighters of all time during his 40-bout career, which has seen him share the cage with Jon Jones, Fedor Emelianenko, Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson, Rashad Evans, and many more MMA icons.

So, there’s pretty much no one better placed to assess Johnson’s fight skills after seeing them up close.

“Yeah, he looked good,” Bader said about ‘The Rock’ during a recent interview with Submission Radio.

“I’m not gonna say he was out there looking like a guy who has been fighting for 20 years, but he obviously works hard. He went in there and did a training camp with real MMA fighters to get his skill set to look good.

“I’ve seen a little bit of the playbacks, and they look good. Like I said, he worked super, super hard and was actually in great shape, like he always is. Big old dude.”

What’s next for Ryan Bader?

Bader doesn’t appear to be eyeing a new career in Hollywood after acting alongside Johnson.

Right now, the 41-year-old is focused on wrapping up his run in MMA in the best way possible.

Bader hasn’t fought since suffering a 21-second KO loss against Renan Ferreira in February 2024.

It was recently announced that he was a free agent after amicably parting ways with the PFL.

In an ideal world, he’ll now return to the UFC where he first made his name all the way back in 2008.

“My manager and I, we kind of talked about that and talked about how cool it would be, kind of, you know, full circle, come back, and at least, you know, retire in the UFC or whatnot,” Bader added.

“Even have one fight. I don’t know if they’re in the business of doing that, but we have thought about it, and it would be a cool scenario.”