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Knowing his opponent has the power to put heads in the third row, Lerone Murphy seemed to have a simple game plan.
Murphy (16-0-1 MMA, 8-0-1 UFC) stayed busy dancing on the outside against Josh Emmett (19-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) in an attempt to stay away from Emmett's power. And while Emmett appeared to be close several times, he never could put Murphy away.
For his part, Murphy's striking was solid en route to a pair of 48-47 scores and a 49-46 to stay unbeaten with his eighth straight win.
Murphy said afterward he would love a featherweight title shot – or at the very least, a crack at someone in the top five to get him closer to the belt. The featherweight title was vacated earlier this year by Ilia Topuria, and former champ Alexander Volkanovski will take on Diego Nunes for the belt at UFC 314 next week.
The featherweight bout was the UFC on ESPN 65 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Afterward, on the post-fight show, Murphy said he wants a fight against Brian Ortega on his next step up the ladder.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 65 results include:
- Lerone Murphy def. Josh Emmett via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
- Pat Sabatini def. Joanderson Brito via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- ChangHo Lee def. Cortavious Romious via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:48
- Brad Tavares def. Gerald Meerschaert via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Ode Osbourne def. Luis Gurule via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:54
- Torrez Finney def. Rob Valentin via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Dione Barbosa def. Diana Belbita via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:13
- Rhys McKee def. Daniel Frunza via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 1, 5:00
- Loma Lookboonmee def. Istela Nunes via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Victor Henry def. Pedro Falcao via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Martin Buday def. Uran Satybaldiev via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Talita Alencar def. Vanessa Demopoulos via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC on ESPN 65.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC on ESPN 65: Lerone Murphy frustrates Josh Emmett, stays unbeaten
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