Movsar Evloev overcame a point deduction to earn a majority decision victory over Lerone Murphy at a UFC Fight Night in The O2 Arena Saturday, likely securing a title shot against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
With the two fighters putting their undefeated records on the line to decide who will face the 37-year-old Australian Volkanovski for the belt, the bout turned into an intriguing clash of styles.
Evloev, who is known for his wrestling, tried to showcase his striking while Murphy displayed some superb defensive work on the ground.
Murphy evaded the fearsome grappling attack of his Russian opponent for the first two rounds of the five-round bout, using a selection of stiff right hands to keep him at bay.
Evloe, meanwhile, took the chance to exhibit some of the dangerous spinning strikes he has added to his repertoire since his last fight in December 2024.
He finally managed to take the fight to the mat early in the third round, but Murphy was quickly back to his feet, uncorking a spinning back kick of his own shortly afterward.
However, it was his opponent who finished the frame strongest with a big overhand right, followed up by a flurry of strikes.
His momentum was derailed somewhat when he landed a second kick to Murphy's groin early in the fourth round and referee Marc Goddard deducted a point from Evloev for the foul.
Knowing that the deduction could be decisive if the fight went to the judges' scorecards, Evloev turned up his energy-sapping grappling attack in the fifth and final frame as he chased a finish, but again Murphy was able to get back to his feet with relative ease.
Despite not really threatening to submit his opponent on the ground, it proved to be enough for the 32-year-old Evloev, with two of the judges scoring the fight 48-46 in his favor and the third scoring it a draw 47-47 after the point deduction was taken into account.
