I'm a UFC fighter but wanted to be a Man Utd footballer – instead I had trials for Liverpool

UFC star Lerone Murphy admitted that fighting wasn't always in his plans - and once had trials for Liverpool FC. The Manchester-born 33-year-old has accrued an impressive 14-0-1 record in the cage since turning pro in the world of mixed martial arts back in 2016, however, he didn't always want to be a fighter.

An avid footballer in his youth, Murphy dreamed of playing for his boyhood club of Manchester United as a teenager. Speaking to the Liverpool Echo this week, Murphy explained: "That was my dream club growing up as a boy. I always wanted to play football for United, that would have been a dream."

And if fate had of had a different plan for Murphy, he could well have went on to achieve the dreams of his youth. That's because he trained with Stockport County and FC United of Manchester, and even had trials with Liverpool.

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Asked whether he would have been content representing the Anfield elite rather than his favoured United, Murphy added: "Nah it would be United all day." Unfortunately, Murphy suffered a knee injury at the age of 16 which crushed his dreams of ever making it to the top tier of English football.

However, 'The Miracle' has since found his feet in the world of combat sports. Murphy started training in mixed martial arts around nine months after suffering gunshot wounds to the neck and face, during a shooting in broad daylight in Fallowfield, south Manchester.

The incident left Murphy hospitalised for two weeks, being fed through a tube and in need of dental reconstruction, but he didn't let that prevent him from making a name for himself in the sporting arena.

Speaking on the incident, Murphy said: "I just lived a different life when I was younger. Ended up getting shot at 21 years old and the rest is history. I think I started training nine months later towards the end of that year.

"I didn’t get into MMA because of that, it got brought to me I believe by the higher powers and it just put me on a new path.” The fighter made his amateur debut in 2014, besting James Doolan via a second-round guillotine, before besting Matthew Bonner and Lloyd Sweeney at the same level the following year.

He turned pro in 2016, beating Martin Fouda via unanimous decision at FCC 15 and the rest is history. Murphy made his UFC debut in 2019, taking tough contender Zubaira Tukhugov to a split-draw on short notice, and currently sits with an overall record of 14-0-1.

Off the back of a unanimous decision victory over Edson Barboza in May, a UFC event in which Murphy headlined, her is set to face the well-rounded Dan Ige when the UFC returns to Abu Dhabi this weekend. '50K' Ige is currently ranked 14th in the featherweight rankings, and Murphy has noted how tough of a task the fight will be for him.

He explained: "He’s high level, probably my toughest test yet. He’s good everywhere with the best of them. There’s nothing he’s not seen so I just think it’s a good match-up and we’re going to put on a big, big fight for the fans."