On the same night that Khabib Nurmagomedov unified the lightweight titles against Dustin Poirier, his teammate took on a debuting opponent.
Between his Octagon debut in 2019 and his second main event at UFC Vegas 105 on April 5, Lerone Murphy has achieved a lot.
The Brit has produced seven consecutive wins to climb the featherweight ranks with some spectacular performances highlighting Murphy as one to watch.
On Saturday night at the UFC Apex, Murphy gets his wish after calling to face veteran contender Josh Emmett following his win at UFC 308 in October.
He’s been so successful in his career that some may have forgotten about the slight setback that he suffered on his UFC debut which remains the only blemish on his undefeated record.
Lerone Murphy fought to a draw with Zubaira Tukhugov at UFC 242 in 2019
At UFC 242 in September of 2019, Lerone Murphy made his UFC debut as an 8-0 underdog against Khabib Nurmagomedov’s teammate, Zubaira Tukhugov.
Tukhugov had gone 3-0 inside the Octagon before suffering a loss to Renato Moicano at UFC 198 in 2016.
Any plans that the Russian had to return were pushed back by a year due to his involvement in the post-UFC 229 brawl that broke out after the main event between Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.
Tukhugov was suspended for a year, which was later reduced by a month to allow him to fight at 242, after he climbed into the Octagon and attacked McGregor.
Nurmagomedov’s teammate started strong on his return, dropping Murphy early on in the first before dominating the round on top.
The Brit got a chance to showcase his striking ability in the second and despite being taken down again, he was able to threaten with submission attempts and eventually get back to his feet.
Both men had their moments in the second and third rounds with Tukhugov ending the fight with nearly 9 and a half minutes of control time whilst Murphy out-landed him.
The close fight was reflected by the scorecards with each judge having a different outcome, resulting in a rare split draw.
Tukhugov has only fought four times since then having been cut from the roster in February of 2023 following a loss to Elves Brener and multiple cancelled fights.
As for Murphy, he’s not looked back since leaving a lasting impression in his introduction to the UFC.
Lerone Murphy has come a long way since UFC 242
Both in terms of where he’s at in his career and his skillset, Lerone Murphy has continued to evolve ever since his UFC 242 in debut.
We’ve not seen any opponent be able to consistently test Murphy’s wrestling the way that Takhugov did and whilst that could be down to the matchup, we’ve also seen the Brit be far more dangerous than he was in his initial Octagon outing.
The 33-year-old is well-rounded but his crisp and accurate striking is by far his strongest skillset.
He will now look to put that to test against one of the most dangerous one-punch knockout artists that we have ever seen when he takes on Josh Emmett.
