I dreamed of playing for Manchester United - but after being shot, I want a UFC world title

As someone who has cheated death not once but twice, it is no wonder Lerone Murphy is determined to make the most of his days.

"As long as you’re not dead, you’ve always got a chance to bounce back, right?" says the 33-year-old, reflecting on the trials and tribulations of a life few could have survived.

It is just a few days before Christmas and the UFC contender (15-0-1) has invited the Manchester Evening News to one of his sparring sessions in Cheetham Hill as he prepares for what he hopes will be a life-changing 2025, culminating with the featherweight title strapped around his waist.

If that dream comes to fruition, it would require him to defeat some of the most prominent names on the UFC roster, such as Alexander Volkanovski and, of course, current featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.

But Murphy is no stranger to defying the odds and has fought much tougher battles than those in the MMA octagon.

In fact, in 2013, he was left for dead after being shot in the face outside of a barber's shop in Fallowfield.

Murphy, though, admits that this first dance with death needed to happen to discourage him from living the life he was living after growing up in the Old Trafford and Levenshulme areas.

"Before I got shot, I lived a totally different life from what I do now, he tells the Manchester Evening News. "Like I said, getting up to mischief and no good. That’s where that life leads, isn’t it?

"When I tell the story, it’s not like I want sympathy from anybody, but that was the life I was living. It needed to happen at that time for me to change paths and go on to the path I’m on now.

"At the time, you think it’s the worst thing that could have happened. You’re thinking, ‘Why me?’ Only later do you realise why it happened