On Saturday at UFC London, Lerone Murphy and Joshua Culibao will open up the main card in a featherweight clash.
“The Miracle” Murphy’s last fight came in March and it was his first fight in two years. Prior to that, the Brit had gone through some life threatening injuries, one of which being knocked off his bike by a car which was almost fatal.
The unbeaten featherweight has struggled to gain any momentum due to injuries and visa issues, but he registered yet another win back in March against late notice replacement, Gabriel Santos. Murphy admitted that it was a struggle preparing for that fight with it being such a late notice replacement, but was satisfied with his performance.
“It’s just another test, a bit more experience, I’ve never done that before fighting someone on a weeks notice with the change of opponent, it’s just more experience and he’s (Gabriel Santos) a tough guy and I got through the test.” Murphy said.
With the 31-year-old running into a string of bad luck throughout the past few years, he hopes that his coming fight with Josh Culibao is the one that will help him gain momentum and finally get him a fight inside the rankings.
“He’s a solid fighter, he’s only lost one in the UFC and that was a short notice against a lightweight. I respect his skills, I know he’s good and I know he’ll be a tough test but i’m up for the test and I’ve trained hard for this. I feel like skill for skill we’re similar strikers, similar set-ups and whatnot so it’ll make a good fight.” he said.
When talking about hopefully building momentum, he said: “I hope so, that’s why I took the fight so soon after the last one back-to-back camps, for me activity is key, so a big win here on Saturday night and the more momentum gets going.”
Watch the full UFC London media day appearance by Lerone Murphy above.
