Preview: UFC Vegas 105 ‘Emmett vs. Murphy’

An intriguing showdown inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division will headline UFC on ESPN 65 this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It may not be a one-fight card, but the clear highlight comes in the form of Lerone Murphy getting his next step up in competition, as he tries to get past Josh Emmett and establish himself as a potential title contender at 145 pounds. The co-main event pitting Pat Sabatini against Joanderson Brito also looks to be well-matched, even if it could wind up one-sided in practice. There are some interesting matchups further down the draw. Kennedy Nzechukwu aims to prove himself as a heavyweight worth watching at the expense of Martin Buday, while middleweight stalwarts Brad Tavares and Gerald Meerschaert square off in a bout that somehow has not happened already.

Now to the UFC on ESPN 65 “Emmett vs. Murphy” preview:

Featherweights

Josh Emmett (19-4, 10-4 UFC) vs. Lerone Murphy (15-0-1, 7-0-1 UFC)

ODDS: Murphy (-325), Emmett (+260)

Murphy’s slow and steady rise has been an interesting subplot at featherweight over the last decade, and the Englishman looks to make the leap to contender status with a win here. Not much was expected of Murphy when the UFC picked him in 2019. While he was a clear standout athlete, he had previously run over a particularly poor level of competition and seemed set up to be fodder for Zubaira Tukhugov in the Russian’s return. Instead, it took Murphy all of five minutes to adjust to UFC-level competition, as he dropped a rough first round but then took over the back half of the fight, earning a draw in what remains the only blemish of a career. There has been a surprising thread of inconsistency among all of Murphy’s success, in various ways. Injuries and visa issues have kept him to a limited schedule at times, and it’s often a question as to how Murphy will look in each fight, as most of his rise has seen him flash different skills in each matchup to get things over the finish line. By 2024, when Murphy got the much-deserved first main event of his career against Edson Barboza, the scouting report had seemingly settled in on him as a versatile fighter who could adjust to the fight in front of him over time, even if some matchups were still easier than others. He got off to a hot start against Barboza and never really let up, while things were a bit trickier against Dan Ige in October. Ige caught the Manchester Top Team unawares with some hard offense early, and while Murphy took over things by the last minute of a three-round fight, he seemed a bit lucky that the Hawaiian’s gas tank started to betray him. That sets things up interestingly against Emmett, who’s running a similar if souped-up style as compared to Ige.

Emmett was an unremarkable lightweight for a few fights until he dropped down to featherweight in 2017, at which point it immediately became apparent that he would be a problem at 145 pounds. Emmett suddenly punched with absolutely nuclear power, which pushed him to contention in only a few months. There was the risk that Emmett’s fairly limited approach, built almost entirely around power punching with defensive wrestling to back things up, would run him into a clear ceiling. However, he developed enough rhythm changes and flexibility within that limited game to hang with all but the featherweight elite. It took the size and speed combination of Yair Rodriguez and the technical craft of Ilia Topuria to pick Emmett apart, which made for a rough 2023 that the Team Alpha Male stalwart nevertheless ended on a high note. He completely obliterated Bryce Mitchell with the scariest knockout of the year, serving as a reminder that while he’s not a championship-level fighter, Emmett might be the most dangerous test in the division—even at 40 years old. Murphy’s fight against Ige should be instructive. Ige is somehow within spitting distance of Emmett’s punching power but also has the same clear weakness, namely the lack of any particularly effective weapons from range. Murphy was able to lean on his wrestling as a safety valve against Ige, which likely won’t be an option against Emmett, at least not immediately. Emmett hasn’t gotten outwrestled often, and when it has happened, it has usually only been after he has suffered an extended beating and slowed down as a result. On the plus side for the Englishman, he should be helped by this being a five-round fight versus the three rounds he had against Ige, as he’s a clear adjuster who builds momentum over time. That’s part of the main question in this assignment: Does Murphy come into this fight with a strong game plan built off the Ige fight, and can he hit a groove before Emmett has won too many rounds through sheer horsepower? It’s a solvable fight for Murphy, but he looked sloppy enough against Ige that he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt given how much Emmett’s power nullifies his margin for error. It’s still a coinflip, but the pick is Emmett via decision.

Jump To »
Emmett vs. Murphy
Brito vs. Sabatini
Lee vs. Romious
Nzechukwu vs. Buday
Tavares vs. Meerschaert
Finney vs. Valentin
The Prelims