Crafty Lerone Murphy Eludes Josh Emmett to Stay Undefeated at UFC Vegas 105

Lerone Murphy danced with one of the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight division’s heaviest hitters for 25 minutes and walked out of the Octagon no worse for it.

The undefeated Manchester Top Team linchpin stayed undefeated with a unanimous decision over Josh Emmett in the five-round UFC on ESPN 65 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Scores were 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46—all for Murphy (16-0-1, 8-0-1 UFC), who has rattled off seven straight victories since his split draw with Zubaira Tukhugov in 2019.

Emmett (19-5, 10-5 UFC) completed multiple takedowns but could not track down the elusive Englishman on the feet. Murphy blasted him with a variety of kicks to the legs and body, traded punches occasionally and circled out of danger. He countered effectively, mixed in close-range elbows at times and, most importantly, kept himself out of harm’s way against an opponent with nuclear punching power. Frustration overtook Emmett late in the fifth round, where he beckoned “The Iceman” forward and seemed to intimate that he was retreating from contact. Murphy did not take the bait.

Meanwhile, two-time Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder Pat Sabatini outclassed Joanderson Brito to a one-sided unanimous decision in their three-round co-main event. Sabatini (20-5, 7-2 UFC) swept the scorecards with 30-26, 30-26 and 30-27 marks from the cageside judges.

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Brito (17-5-1, 5-3 UFC) was a non-factor. Sabatini executed takedowns in all three rounds, moved from one advantageous position to another, applied his ground-and-pound and flirted with submissions whenever the mood arose. By the time it was over, he had accrued nearly 14 minutes of control time against the flummoxed Brito.

Sabatini, 34, has won nine of his past 11 fights.

Further down the bill, “Road to UFC” Season 2 winner Chang Ho Lee disposed of Cortavious Romious with sustained ground-and-pound in the second round of their bantamweight showcase. Romious (9-4, 0-2 UFC), who missed weight by 3.5 pounds, succumbed to blows 3:48 into Round 2.

The 30-year-old Lee (11-1, 2-0 UFC) waded through some adversity, opened a significant cut near his adversary’s right eye in a frenetic first five minutes and then turned up the heat in the second round. There, he dodged an ill-advised armbar attempt from Romious, advanced to the back and flattened out the American before unleashing a string of unanswered punches and elbows. The blitz left referee Chris Tognoni no choice but to intervene.

Lee will carry a five-fight winning streak into his next outing.

Elsewhere, Xtreme Couture mainstay Brad Tavares called upon superior standup and bulletproof takedown defense in a unanimous decision over onetime Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion Gerald Meerschaert in a three-round middleweight feature. All three cageside judges scored it the same: 29-28 for Tavares (21-10, 16-10 UFC), who bounced back from consecutive losses to Gregory Rodrigues and Jun Yong Park.

Trapped on the feet with the cagy and experienced Hawaiian, Meerschaert (37-19, 12-11 UFC) had little recourse available to him. Tavares blasted him with an effective jab, clean one-twos and occasional body kicks. “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 11 semifinalist appeared to stagger Meerschaert with a chopping right hand in the second round, where he continued to pad his lead. “GM3” responded late, closed the distance and lured Tavares into the clinch for much of the final five minutes, but the finish he needed was nowhere in sight.

Tavares now has 16 wins as a UFC middleweight, tying him with Michael Bisping for most on the promotion’s all-time list at 185 pounds.

Not to be overshadowed, Ode Osbourne wiped out former Fury Fighting Championship titleholder Luis Gurule with punches in the second round of their flyweight attraction. Osbourne (13-8, 5-6 UFC) drew the curtain 1:54 into Round 2, posting his first victory in over two years.

Gurule (10-1, 0-1 UFC) executed a slam takedown in the first round, briefly progressed to full mount and threw his ground-and-pound into gear. Osbourne stayed composed under duress before escaping to his feet in the closing seconds. He let his hands work in the middle stanza, where he zapped Gurule with a surgical left cross and pounced with follow-up punches to prompt the stoppage.

The win snapped a three-fight losing streak for Osbourne.

Finally, three-time Dana White’s Contender Series alum Torrez Finney kept his perfect professional record intact and wrestled his way to a split decision over Robert Valentin in a three-round middleweight appetizer. Judges Ben Cartlidge and Junichiro Kamijo saw it 29-28 for Finney, while Tony Weeks cast a puzzling 30-27 score for Valentin.

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Finney (11-0, 1-0 UFC) leaned almost exclusively on takedowns through two rounds, driving his opponent to the canvas repeatedly without doing much else. From there, the action stalled. Valentin (10-5, 0-2 UFC) snuck in a few elbows and punches while he was upright but conceded one takedown after another to the Agoge Combatives prospect, as onlookers suffered through a slog of an encounter. Finney ran out of gas in the third round—referee Mike Beltran restarted them on three different occasions—but the 5-foot-7, 185-pound powerhouse had done enough by then to exit the cage with his arm raised.

Valentin has lost back-to-back bouts for the second time in his 15-fight career.

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