UFC London: Lerone Murphy and Movsar Evloev in cold staredown before featherweight fight

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”.