Lerone Murphy ‘didn’t show up’ in UFC London loss: ‘No excuses’

Lerone Murphy took all the blame for coming up short against Movsar Evloev in the UFC Fight Night 270 main event.

Murphy (17-1-1 MMA, 9-1-1 UFC) saw his perfect MMA run come to an end Saturday at The O2 in London when he lost a majority decision to Evloev (20-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) in their potential title eliminator in the featherweight division.

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“The Miracle” had a strong start in the fight, then was seemingly put in an even better position after Evloev was deducted a point for low blows, but the judges didn’t value his work enough and he came out on the losing end of 47-47, 48-46 and 48-46 scorecards.

“Sorry London fans, sorry to let you down tonight. I gave it my all,” Murphy said in his post-fight interview with Michael Bisping. “I gave all I could give tonight. Obviously it wasn’t enough. One thing I would like to say, make sure Movsar Evloev gets a title shot. That man deserves it. He’s next in line. I’ll be back. Don’t worry.”

Although gracious about the result to the point of throwing support behind Evloev to next challenge 145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski, Murphy did admit he was compromised in the latter half of his main event contest.

Murphy noticeably favored his left hip area midway through the fight and informed his corner after the fourth round that his hip had “popped.” He didn’t use it as a reason the fight didn’t go his way, though.

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“My hip popped in the third, I think,” Murphy said. “But no excuses, man. I didn’t show up tonight. That’s it. I’ll be back. I’ve got work to do. I’ll be back.”

Although he was not upset about the result in the octagon, Murphy’s tone did change a bit post-fight. Once he had a chance to review footage, Murphy went to social media and indicated there’s some debate to be had over the scoring (via X):