Lerone Murphy edged closer to a shot at the UFC featherweight title on Saturday, outpointing Josh Emmett with a “masterclass” in Las Vegas.
Murphy was a 49-46, 48-47, 48-47 over Emmett in their Fight Night main event, as he neutralised the threat of the known power puncher over five rounds.
The result likely leaves Murphy, 33, needing one more win before he can challenge for a title in the UFC.
“That was the exact game plan, what you saw there,” said the Mancunican. “Pick him off at range, catch him on the way in. Obviously I wanted the finish, the finishes are just not coming at the minute.
“But a masterful performance anyway. We’re just chasing them finishes, chasing them wins, racking up the wins and aiming for that title.
“I took a few shots on the gloves, really didn’t take anything clean. Obviously I knew he hit hard, he’s put some good fighters out cold. For me, it was stay safe and be good defensively.
“I thought I won four rounds very clearly. If he won one of the rounds, it’s because I threw a kick and he got top position, but I don’t think he landed anything clean throughout the rounds. I think he was a bit more busy in one of the rounds, and that was it.”
Murphy’s win kept him unbeaten at 16-0-1 and extended his win streak to eight, though just two of his victories in that run have come via stoppage.
The Briton, who hailed his victory over Emmett as “clinical” and “a masterclass”, also said he would like to fight Brian Ortega next.
“Just a fight I’ve been looking at for a while, and obviously you see Diego Lopes go on to get a title shot after beating him, so I want to take a similar route,” Murphy said, referring to Lopes’s fight with Alexander Volkanovski for the vacant title this Saturday (12 April). “I fought Dan Ige, same as Lopes, too. So yeah, man, give me one of them guys.”
Ortega is a former two-time challenger, who failed to dethrone Max Holloway in 2018 and Volkanovski in 2021. Last time out, in September, the American lost to Lopes on points.
