Lerone Murphy (born 22 July 1991) is an English professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

who currently competes in the

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

(UFC). As of 8 April 2025, he is #8 in UFC featherweight rankings.

Background

Murphy, who was born and raised in

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

, went to St Edward's Primary School in

Rusholme Rusholme () is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, two miles south of the Manchester city centre, city centre. The population of the ward at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by Chorl ...

and St Mary's

Levenshulme Levenshulme () is an area of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, England, bordering Fallowfield, Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish, halfway between Stockport and Manchester city centre on the A6 road (England), A6. Levenshulm ...

and St Anne's High Catholic High School in Heaton Chapel,

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

. He had been a promising footballer, who went on trials for

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

and had trained with both Stockport County and FC United as a teenager, until at the age of 16 after he suffered a serious knee injury that prematurely ended his football dreams. Being the nephew of Manchester boxing trainer, the late Oliver Harrison, who had trained the likes of Amir Khan and Rocky Fielding, Murphy had done some boxing training, but started his MMA training when he walked into the All Powers gym. On Saturday 25 May 2013 Lerone, having just left a barber shop on Lloyd Street South in the Manchester suburb of

Fallowfield Fallowfield is a bustling area of Manchester with a population of 14,869 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies south of Manchester city centre and is bisected east&n ...

, was shot by a gunman. Lerone was hit by three bullets, being hit on the face and neck twice. Due to the injuries Murphy had to get a set of prosthetic teeth, and has a tiny shard of bullet permanently embedded in his tongue.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Making his MMA debut at FCC 15, he faced Martin Fouda and went on to defeat him via unanimous decision. Murphy would go on to defeat Tyler Thomas at Tanko FC 3, Jamie Lee at FCC 18, Nathan Thompson at FCC 19, Terry Doyle at FightStar Championship 14, all via first round TKO. He would go on to defeat his next two opponents via unanimous decision; James McErlean at Evolution Of Combat Fight Night 2 and Anton De Paepe at Celtic Gladiator 22. For his final appearance in the UK regional scene, Murphy won the FCC Featherweight Championship at FCC 23 against Manolo Schianna via TKO in the first round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Murphy made his UFC debut against Zubaira Tukhugov on 7 September 2019 at UFC 242. The back-and-forth fight ended in a split draw with one judge assigning each fighter a 29–28 win and the third seeing it as a 28–28 draw. Murphy faced Ricardo Ramos on 16 July 2020 at UFC on ESPN 13. He won the fight via technical knockout in round one, earning himself a Performance of the Night bonus. After his second fight in the promotion, Murphy renewed his contract with the UFC. Murphy faced

Douglas Silva de Andrade Douglas Silva de Andrade (born June 22, 1985) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who currently competes in Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Silva de Andrade grew up in Castanhal, Brazil. He has an o ...

on 20 January 2021 at UFC on ESPN 20. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Murphy was scheduled to face Charles Jourdain on 4 September 2021 at UFC Fight Night 191. However, Murphy was pulled from the event due to visa issues, and he was replaced by Julian Erosa. Replacing an injured Tristan Connelly, Murphy stepped in on short notice against Makwan Amirkhani at UFC 267 on 30 October 2021. Murphy won the bout via knockout early in the second round. Murphy was scheduled to face Nate Landwehr on 26 March 2022 at UFC on ESPN 33. However, Murphy withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by David Onama. Murphy was scheduled to face Nathaniel Wood on 18 March 2023 at UFC 286. However, Wood was forced to withdraw from the event due to leg injury and was replaced by UFC newcomer Gabriel Santos. Murphy won the fight via split decision. Murphy faced Joshua Culibao on 22 July 2023 at UFC Fight Night 224. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Murphy was scheduled to face Dan Ige on 10 February 2024 at UFC Fight Night 236. However, Murphy pulled out in mid-January due to an undisclosed injury. Murphy faced Edson Barboza on 18 May 2024 at UFC Fight Night 241. He won the fight by unanimous decision. This fight earned him the '' Fight of the Night'' award. Murphy faced Dan Ige on 26 October 2024 at UFC 308. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Murphy faced former interim UFC Featherweight Championship challenger Josh Emmett on 5 April 2025 in the main event at UFC on ESPN 65. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Championships and achievements

Mixed martial arts

*Full Contact Contender ** FCC Featherweight Championship (One Time) *

** Fight of the Night (One time) ** Performance of the Night (One time) **Tied ( Movsar Evloev) for fourth longest win streak in UFC Featherweight division history (8) * MMAjunkie.com **2021 October Knockout of the Month vs. Makwan Amirkhani

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 16–0–1 , Josh Emmett , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on ESPN: Emmett vs. Murphy , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–0–1 , Joshua Culibao , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Aspinall vs. Tybura , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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, United Arab Emirates , , - , Draw , align=center, 8–0–1 , Zubaira Tukhugov , Draw (split) , UFC 242 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United Arab Emirates , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Manolo Scianna , TKO (punches) , Full Contact Contender 23 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:22 ,

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Ayton De Paepe , Decision (unanimous) , Celtic Gladiator 22 , , align=Center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , James McErlean , Decision (unanimous) , Evolution of Combat: Fight Night 2 , , align=Center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

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, England , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Nathan Thompson , TKO (punches) , Full Contact Contender 19 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 ,

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, England ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Lerone Living people 1991 births English male mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters English practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu British shooting survivors 21st-century English sportsmen