Murphy and Evloev in cold UFC London staredown
Lerone Murphy and Movsar Evloev engaged in cold staredown as the pair faced off before their UFC London featherweight bout at the O2 Arena on Saturday.
Manchester fighter Murphy was warmly applauded by fans as he took to the stage, while Russia's Evloev was booed before the pair went eye-to-eye in a tense face-off.
The fight has both athletes putting their undefeated records on the line with Murphy, 34, undefeated in 18 bouts and Evloev winning all 19 of his.
"Ready for a war," said Murphy. "That's it – simple."
Evloev, 32, cut a cool and collected figure, as he has throughout fight week despite only arriving on Wednesday, before replying: "He's not ready for a war – I'll show it tomorrow."
In perhaps a statement of intent, Murphy was first on the scales out of every fighter on the card during the morning's official weigh-ins, clocking 145lb (10st 3lb), with Evloev weighing one pound heavier.
Murphy was not serenaded by fans like British UFC London stars such as Tom Aspinall and Paddy Pimblett who have fought in previous years, but it allowed him to maintain his focus as he shadowboxed while waiting for Evloev's arrival.
The fight between Murphy and Evloev will help determine the next challenger for Alexander Volkanovski's featherweight title, though it has not been branded a number one contender fight by the UFC.
Murphy is third in the UFC's featherweight rankings with Evloev first, but sixth-ranked Jean Silva has suggested he may also jump the queue to fight Volkanovski.
The Brazilian was at the weigh-in, interacting with fans and will be cageside on Saturday.
Murphy's last fight ended in spectacular fashion with the Mancunian knocking out Aaron Pico with a spinning elbow to thrust himself into title contention.
But instead the UFC matched Volkanovski with second-ranked Diego Lopes who the champion had beaten 10 months prior – a move which Murphy says "woke me up to a lot of things".
Murphy's time has deservedly come – analysis
It has taken a long time for Murphy to command the spotlight in British MMA – seven years and 10 unbeaten fights in the UFC to be exact – but his time has deservedly come.
Murphy does not have the finishing ability of someone like Aspinall, or the charisma of Pimblett, but what he does have is a record that trumps both Britons.
During his 10-year, 18-fight career, Murphy has never been defeated – a run in which he has built the current longest win streak in the UFC at featherweight, with nine victories.
For fans of the sport, it is a story which may sound familiar, with fellow Briton Leon Edwards quietly working his way towards a UFC welterweight title shot.
Murphy only needs to look at Edwards, who won the belt in spectacular fashion before defending it twice, to see what can be achieved if given the opportunity to fight for the championship.
Murphy has said if he keeps winning he cannot be denied, and a convincing win over Evloev will surely convince the UFC he deserves his shot at gold.
Evloev is likely to pose the toughest test of Murphy's career to date, but if he can defend the Russian's takedowns and keep the bout a striking contest, he has every chance of walking out of the O2 Arena as the new number one contender.
UFC London main card
Main card from 20:00 GMT:
- Lerone Murphy v Movsar Evloev – featherweight
- Luke Riley v Michael Aswell Jr – featherweight
- Michael 'Venom' Page v Sam Patterson – welterweight
- Iwo Baraniewski v Austen Lane – light-heavyweight
- Roman Dolidze v Christian Leroy Duncan – middleweight
- Kurtis Campbell v Danny Silva – featherweight
