UFC star Lerone Murphy reveals Edson Barboza goal ahead of 'biggest fight' of career

UFC star Lerone Murphy has claimed that his main event fight against Edson Barboza in Las Vegas is his 'time to shine'.

The Manchester-born fighter takes on the Brazilian veteran in a featherweight bout at the UFC Apex this weekend. In the first headline fight of his career, his undefeated record will go on line.

Having won 13 of his 14 professional fights, Murphy's planned showdown with Dan Ige was cancelled due to injury. After a period out of the octagon, the Mancunian has labelled the bout in Vegas as the biggest of his career.

“This is the biggest fight of my career by a mile," he told the Manchester Evening News. "It’s my first main event, fighting Edson Barboza, who is a legend of the sport already.

"I’m feeling good. I’m ready for the challenge. I feel like it’s my time to shine. I’ve been through a lot and worked hard to get here, I’m ready to go. I feel great. The training camp has gone great. We’ve had seven weeks. I got injured at the last camp but all is good now. My body’s feeling great.”

Murphy currently sits outside the featherweight top ten rankings. However, he has set a target on breaking into that bracket with victory over Barboza - who currently sits 12th.

“Yeah, beating Barbosa would definitely do that," he said. "It’s a big fight and everybody that has beat him has gone on to do great things. If I get the win, I’ll be looking at fighting someone in the top ten and moving on from there.”