Lerone Murphy needed the jury's scorecards on Saturday evening to retain his undefeated record by beating Josh Emmett in a frustrating main event for featherweight.
The unbeaten Brit had surpassed Edson Barboza and then Ige in his last two octagonal trips, while Emmett had been out of operation for more than a year. His last victory was a horrible knockout victory on the controversial Bryce Mitchell, which excites fans to this day.
Murphy placed his 15-0-1 record on the line against veteran Emmett for a smaller crowd in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Elsewhere on the map there were a number of exciting moments, including the division debut by Torrez Finney.
Josh Emmett vs Lerone Murphy UFC Vegas 105 Result
Like a former interim nitrum candidate, Josh Emmett had more than double the experience of Lerone Murphy who took on five round fights. He marked five trips for the two two and showed comfort while he picked up his rival in the Openingstanza.
Within two and a half minutes, Josh Emmett was opened by a collision of heads that was immediately followed by a Murphy-Elleboog. He wore the blood well and continued to throw large shots in his search for a finish.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
The second round was much better for Murphy who quickly got up from Takedowns, including a large SLAM, and a number of large veal skicks managed to land his rival.
Round three started with Murphy slipping to allow Emmett to control the action, but he showed expert removal of the Takedown with his ability to elbow against the cage. The round was temporarily stopped because of an eye of the Brit, which now seems to be a regular problem.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
When they went to the championship rounds, it seemed that Murphy was picking up the pace and began to control the fight. A large elbow at the end of the third in combination with some large stairs gave him an impressive run in the last two.
After a large staircase to the body of the British, Emmett seemed to come to life and to exert pressure with combinations while struggling with the result of taking many legs rather in the night.
As they exchanged the fifth, the scores were closed razor, both men knew that a finish was still needed. It seemed that Murphy threw a little more and they went to the score cards after an inconspicuous battle in Las Vegas.
Evetual was announced Murphy as the winner and won three rounds to two over two score cards and four to one.
UFC Vegas 105 was a bizarre night of action
It is always a mixed bag when the UFC is on running a show at the Apex in Las Vegas, with viewers on TV who believe it hurts the experience of watching enormously. There was perhaps more a crowd than normal, and they created a certain degree of atmosphere during the night.
A fascinating moment on the Undercard saw Irish Rhys McKee Brutalize and stopped UFC newcomer Daniel Frunza. It was the first interruption of the night, and one of only three Kos or TKOs on the Undercard next to Ode Obourne's second round knockout of the unbeaten Luis Gurule.
Chang Ho Lee and Cortavious Romious set up a barn burner halfway through the Undercard before the South Korean landed its own interruption. He took top control and forced an interruption with soil and pound, which led to the last KO of the Undercard.
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