Preview: UFC on ESPN 20

Featherweights

NR | Lerone Murphy (9-0-1, 1-0-1 UFC) vs. NR | Douglas Silva de Andrade (26-3, 4-3 UFC)

ODDS: Murphy (-290), Silva de Andrade (+245)

This should be an entertaining banger between two underrated talents. England’s Murphy basically came out of nowhere as a prospect to watch. His pre-UFC resume mostly saw him run over competition of little note, so he certainly seemed to be set up to lose in a late-notice UFC debut against Zubaira Tukhugov. However, after a rough start, “The Miracle” eventually found his groove and fought Tukhugov to a draw—an impressive task for such a huge jump up in level of opposition. The UFC served Murphy another tough test in Ricardo Ramos for his sophomore effort, but after a quick win thanks to some particularly brutal ground-and-pound, he might be able to make a run up the featherweight ladder quicker than anyone would have expected. He will take on Silva de Andrade, a consistently entertaining fighter whose inactivity has kept him from building much momentum. Essentially self-trained to start his career, that is still reflected in the Brazilian’s style, as he uses all unorthodox techniques that work thanks to his top-tier athleticism and power. “D’Silva” can still be overwhelmed by an aggressive athlete with more focus—Rob Font and Petr Yan handled him during his days at bantamweight—but the Brazilian is a reliable action fighter and an excellent next test for a prospect like Murphy. At this stage of his career, Murphy’s big issue seems to be defensive wrestling, but thankfully for him, Silva de Andrade is mostly a pressure striker, which should fall right into the Brit’s wheelhouse. Murphy has shown an ability to keep opponents at bay with some solid boxing fundamentals. He will likely get clocked a few times, so the real question is Murphy’s durability. Given that his chin has held up perfectly fine to date, the pick is for Murphy to ride out a decision win.

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