LONDON – Just like Nathaniel Wood, [autotag]Lerone Murphy[/autotag] has another job to do first. But until they fight, it seems like Wood and Murphy might be mentioned together for a while.
The two had a hotel run-in earlier this week. They were supposed to fight in March, but Wood had to pull out with a freak injury. Then he said something that apparently got under Murphy’s skin, and the two have had a healthy back-and-forth on social media – plus the run-in.
Now they’re on the same show at UFC Fight Night 224 in London and don’t even get to fight each other.
“I don’t think it was a heated debate. It’s just a conversation,” Murphy said at Thursday’s media day in London. “We had back-and-forth on the internet and I think it was important to bring that to reality and speak about it face to face like men. Everyone’s saying there’s some beef – nothing. If it was a beef, something would have happened there and then. It’s just a disagreement, really.
But when told Wood said Murphy’s side of the online exchanges could be worthy of legal involvement, Murphy may have changed his mind about not having beef.
“What? Oh my God. This is what I’m saying: He’s playing the victim,” Murphy said. “He wants to call me out. I was only responding to everything he said. I know what he’s going to say. It’s about the mental health thing or something. … (He said) I’m mentally weak because I don’t like to get in ice baths. And I’m like, ‘Don’t you take medication for your mental health? How can I be mentally weak? You can’t call people mentally weak.’ That’s all I said, so you can’t be calling out lawyers and all that. I thought he was supposed to be a fighter.”
Like Wood, Murphy said if a fight with Wood lines up in the future, he’s glad to take it.
“If we both keep winning and it makes sense, yeah, of course – I’d love to beat him up.”
Before that can happen, Murphy (12-0-1 MMA, 4-0-1 UFC) has to take on Josh Culibao (11-1-1 MMA, 3-1-1 UFC) on Saturday at The O2 in London. Their fight opens the main card on ESPN+. And Wood (19-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) takes on Andre Fili (22-9 MMA, 10-8 UFC) in a featured featherweight bout on the main card just a few fights later.
Check out Murphy’s full UFC Fight Night 224 media day interview in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.