LERONE MURPHY is lucky to be alive, much less to be headlining a UFC card in Las Vegas.
But that’s where the Manchester magician finds himself, just under five years after debuting in MMA’s main promotion.
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The undefeated featherweight tops the bill of UFC Vegas 92 on Sunday morning at the Apex organization’s facilities, where he will face longtime fan favorite Edson Barboza.
MMA fans would never have known the immense talent Murphy has for the sport if he hadn’t – by some ‘miracle’ – survived a gunshot to the face 11 years ago.
And Murphy — who began his journey in the sport three months after being shot outside a barbershop — is still coming to terms with where he finds himself after cheating death more than a decade ago.
“It feels like a simulation,” Murphy told SunSport. “It just doesn’t feel real.
“Sometimes I just have to pinch myself because it feels like I’m just in a dream.
“It’s strange, the contrast is night and day. It’s night and day.
“If I look back ten years, if someone said, ‘Where will you be in ten years?’
“I definitely wouldn’t be here anyway. I definitely wouldn’t be here.”
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Murphy isn’t in the main event against a veteran of the sport just by chance, with UFC bosses considering his five wins in six matches worthy of a showcase fight against a legend.
The 31-year-old said: “But I worked really hard for it. So it’s no surprise that [I’m here].
“I worked a lot. And like you said, I’ve been through a lot.
“I crawled out of the trenches and we’re here today.”
Murphy’s journey from the streets of Fallowfield to the Fighting Capital of the World is one he hopes will inspire the young people of Manchester Top Team and others who are currently not on the right path.
He said: “The first Mancuian born and raised [to headline a UFC event]. For my team, I’m trying to motivate younger people to see the path.
“They see what I do in the gym, they see what kind of work I do.
“I always arrive early, I’m always warming up early and I’m always [the] last to leave.
“They see the work I do. So I just want to motivate younger people to show them that this is possible.”
The UFC will return to Murphy’s backyard on July 27 for UFC 304, which is expected to feature interim heavyweight and welterweight champions Tom Aspinall and Leon Edwards.
And although he’s not looking beyond Barboza, Murphy can’t help but dream of getting a spot on the card.
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He said of the possibility of a quick turnaround to fight on the card: “That’s my dream. Pass Edson Barboza unscathed.
“You have a week to recover and go straight back to the UFC Manchester fight camp.
“The only Mancunian in the cast. I need to be there.
“If not, I’ll watch the fights. But I hope to continue on this card.”
Former longtime lightweight Barboza, 38, looked the same in his recent victories over 145-pound prospects Billy Quarantillo and Sodiq Yussuf.
The Brazilian is someone Murphy watched long before he came onto the UFC’s radar, so he knows all too well the dangers the ferocious kicker will pose in the showdown in Sin City.
Recalling his reaction to getting the fight, he said: “When the contract was signed, it was like, ‘This is real now.
“It’s time to shine and playing time is over. I’m not going to bash the guys I fought before, but this is real now.
“This is my biggest test. It’s time to act, I have to act. It’s do or be killed there.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
