UFC No. 3 featherweight contender Lerone Murphy is set for the biggest fight of his career. The Brit will take on No. 1-ranked contender Movsar Evloev on Saturday, March 21, at the O2 Arena in front of a home crowd. While the fight is viewed as a title eliminator for Alexander Volkanovski’s featherweight belt, attention has also turned to an unexpected topic—Murphy’s body ink.
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The 34-year-old has tattoos across his body, but there are some that are close to his heart. These tattoos are more than just for aesthetic appeal, as they convey a variety of stories from Murphy’s life to his journey in MMA. So, here’s everything you need to know about the Englishman’s body art.
What is the meaning of Lerone Murphy’s chest tattoo?
If you have seen Lerone Murphy fight, you would probably have seen multiple lines of text inked on his left side chest. What’s that tattoo about? Well, it’s a quote Murphy says he lives by. In an interview with the UFC before his fight against Josh Emmett in April last year, ‘The Miracle’ revealed what the tattoo says and the significance of it in his life.
“Oh, my favorite tattoo would be [the one on my chest],” he said. “I have a quote on my chest saying, ‘God will never put you through anything you can’t handle. Through every dark night, there’s a brighter day.’ [It’s a belief that] I live by. I always live by, and I don’t regret any of them.”
While details about when and where he got the tattoo are unavailable, the meaning of the tattoo reflects the adversities in his life. In 2013, Murphy was shot twice in the face and neck during a drive-by shooting in Manchester. He was merely 21 at the time. But as his tattoo says, ‘God will never put you through anything you can’t handle,’ he survived.
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Miraculously, he survived after emergency surgery, a tracheotomy, and months of recovery while a bullet fragment remains in his tongue. It was also the incident that led him into the world of MMA, which is also reflected in the tattoo, saying, ‘Through every dark night, there’s a brighter day.’
After the shooting, Lerone Murphy was left depressed and angry for months until he walked into an MMA gym four months later. Training cleared his mind and gave him purpose for the first time since the attack. Regardless, there’s more ink on Murphy’s body.
Are there any other tattoos on Lerone Murphy’s body?
During the same interview with UFC, Lerone Murphy admitted that he has “four or five” tattoos on his body. Leaving the chest tattoo, he has at least three more tattoos. But there’s one that stands out among them all. And it’s not for a good reason.
Murphy shed light on the first tattoo he ever got, and described it as “pretty embarrassing.” While he acknowledged that most people may not think it’s the worst, for him, he doesn’t cherish getting it.
“My first tattoo is pretty embarrassing,” he said. “It’s not the worst, it’s been worse. It says, ‘Live life and love life,’ which doesn’t… that is what it is, but yeah, pretty embarrassing.”
Besides this one, he has a tattoo on his left shoulder, left forearm, and left torso. However, details about his other tattoos are currently unavailable.
But as Lerone Murphy climbs the UFC ladder, more in-depth details about his tattoos are expected to be revealed. But if you had to guess, what do you think the rest of his tattoos mean?
