UFC London: Movsar Evloev beats Lerone Murphy to crush title hopes

Murphy entered the contest after missing the title fight against defending champion Alexander Volkanovski in January, with Diego Lopes being given the opportunity instead.

Murphy has not received a rousing reception from home fans in the past like Aspinall or Pimblett for his business-like debut, but he was applauded when he stepped into the octagon.

Evloev was booed heavily, but embraced the greeting with a smile and made a heart-shaped sign with his fingers toward the crowd.

Encouraged by chants of “Oh Miracle Murphy”, some of the Mancunian’s best work was done with his back to the cage as he landed a one-two uppercut combination and tried to keep Evloev at bay with leg kicks.

Evloev was predicted to grapple with Murphy, but attempted his first takedown in the third round as the Briton dominated the strike.

Murphy quickly rose to his feet and drew roars from the crowd with a counter right hook, but Evloev would finish the round on top with a flurry of strikes that opened a cut above the Mancunian’s left eye.

The contest was postponed in the fourth round because Murphy took time to recover from an accidental groin strike that caused the Russian to lose a point.

But after telling his corner that he had hurt his hip, Murphy struggled to defend his takedowns as before, and Evloev gained the upper hand in the closing stages.

Murphy was greeted with a roar from the crowd as he continued to get to his feet, but Evloev’s late nine strikeouts told a compelling story.

“I told you I was a better striker than him; just kidding!” said Evloev.

“Me and my coach were preparing more fakes, takedowns and punches. I think my punches are hard, I can hurt my opponent. Look at his face, it’s damaged. I don’t need to use my wrestling to win.”