Lerone
Murphy couldn’t put Josh Emmett
away, but he was nonetheless pleased with the way he executed his
strategy in the UFC
Vegas 105 headliner.
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“That was the exact game plan what you saw there,” Murphy said at
Saturday’s post-fight press conference. “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.”
Murphy relied on intelligent movement and a varied striking arsenal
to frustrate Emmett on Saturday. The heavy-handed Team Alpha Male
product, who was coming off a massive knockout of Bryce
Mitchell in December 2023, spent much of the fight stalking his
opponent in search of a similar opening, but it was Murphy who
staggered Emmett in the waning moments of the bout.
“I took a few shots on the gloves, really didn’t take anything
clean,” Murphy said. “Obviously, I knew he hit hard. He’s put some
good fighters out cold. For me it was stay safe and be good
defensively.”
According to UFCStats.com, Murphy outlanded Emmett by an 84-to-41
count in significant strikes and helding striking advantages in all
but the opening stanza. While Emmett did secure four takedowns —
the second most of his promotional tenure — he was unable to
control the Manchester native for any significant period of time.
Still, the scorecards were closer than Murphy expected, as he
received tallies of 48-47 (twice) and 49-46 from the cageside
judges.
“I thought I won four rounds very clearly,” Murphy said. “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 has now won eight straight fights at 145 pounds, tying him
with Movsar
Evloev for the longest active winning streak in the division.
He sees a clear path to a title shot, and he believes that comes
with a victory over Brian Orega next.
“Just a fight I’ve been looking at for a while. Obviously you see
Diego
Lopes get a title shot after beating him so I want to take a
similar route,” Murphy said. I fought Dan Ige, same
as Lopes, too. Just give me one of them guys.”