A featherweight clash pitting
Edson
Barboza against
Lerone
Murphy
will serve as the headliner for a
UFC
Fight Night event on May 18.
Multiple outlets confirmed the booking following an initial
report from MMA journalist Laerte Viana. The
card is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and
also includes a flyweight showdown between
Tim Elliott
and
Tatsuro
Taira.
Barboza is 4-3 in UFC competition since moving to 145 pounds from
the lightweight division. The 38-year-old Brazilian is coming off a
2-0 campaign in 2023 in which he defeated
Billy
Quarantillo via first-round knockout at UFC on ESPN 44 and
outpointed
Sodiq
Yusuff over five rounds in the UFC Fight Night 230
headliner.
A native of Stockport, England, the 32-year-old Murphy has yet to
taste defeat in 14 professional outings. After battling
Zubaira
Tukhugov to a split draw in his Octagon debut at UFC 242, “The
Miracle” has been victorious in his last five Octagon appearances.
Most recently, Murphy earned a unanimous decision triumph against
Joshua
Culibao at UFC Fight Night 224 this past July.