The Battle for a Featherweight Title Shot at UFC London
After Alexander Volkanovski’s recent unanimous victory at UFC 325 against Diego Lopes, it is fair to say there won’t be a third fight between the two anytime soon. Now comes in two Featherweight contenders, Lerone Murphy and Movsar Evloev, who were seen as more deserving of a title shot early on before UFC 325 was announced. Both fighters will battle it out at UFC London on March 21st, and the winner should be next in line to face Volk for the belt at a later time. Murphy and Evloev have both shown their superior skills in the octagon, with neither fighter having a loss to their name. With the two fighters both being forgotten about for UFC 325, who has what it takes to defeat Volk, and who will come out on top at UFC London?
Lerone Murphy began his UFC career with a draw, but has since put on an impressive showing by winning his last nine fights, with three of them being knockouts. The England-born fighter has yet to lose a fight, with a record of 17-0-1. His last fight against Aaron Pico at UFC 319 ended in a wild knockout where Murphy hit Pico with a spinning back elbow, earning him a Performance of the Night bonus. On the other side of the octagon is another formidable athlete in Movsar Evloev, an undefeated freestyle fighter who is dangerous in stand-up and on the ground. He sits at 18-0 but has won only nine of his UFC fights by decision, never knocking out an opponent. Evloev has shown pure dominance over his opponents by committing more takedowns and outstriking them. So while Lerone definitely has the knockout power to win his fights, Evloev simply outworks his opponent when it comes to the scorecards.
Evloev is the current favorite to win his fight with Murphy, thanks to his all-around fighting ability, but Murphy has shown fans he can stand with any fighter in the division, given his power and speed. Both fighters ultimately deserve a title shot against Volk, but only one can earn that spot in the near future. With the greatness that is Alexander Volkanovski, it will be hard for either of the fighters to detain the champ fully, but we have seen weaknesses in Volk’s game. However, one fighter still has to get through the other to get to that title shot
Murphy is the underdog in this fight mainly because of his lack of ground game. The biggest difference maker for him would be to snuff as many takedowns as possible and pressure Evloev up top early. The opposite holds for Evloev in securing a victory. Given that the Russian fighter goes the distance in many of his fights, he will have to catch Murphy off guard and use calculated takedowns to control him on the ground.
Looking back at the track records of both fighters, this bout could go all five rounds; however, that does not mean it will be boring in the slightest. Murphy’s technical speed and superior power give him a great edge going into this fight, while Evloev’s quick agility and expert wrestling abilities also give him a lot of dominating tools to work with. With the fight being the main event at UFC London, Murphy gets a home-field advantage and the crowd behind him. Nevertheless, whoever gets their hand raised has proven their worth and deserves the next title shot.
