Lauren Murphy stepped across the Octagon from Valentina Shevchenko and saw Michael Jordan at UFC 266.
Shevchenko — Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s Flyweight champion —locked horns with Murphy in the co-headliner for UFC 266, which took place inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, last month. In a new interview, Murphy compared Shevchenko to National Basketball League (NBA) legend Jordan and former UFC champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“It’s a bummer to lose, and that’s the first time I had ever been finished. I think it was a good stoppage, I was pretty out of it by the time the ref pulled her off of me,” Murphy told MMA Fighting. “It’s definitely not the outcome we wanted but, to be honest with you, it was pretty cool to be in there with a martial artist of her caliber. That’s a pretty cool experience. That must be what it’s like to go play one-on-one with Michael Jordan, or that’s how guys felt when they were competing with Khabib [Nurmagomedov], because it really was, ‘Holy s—t, this girl is really on another level.’
“It was pretty crazy to be in there with somebody at that level because I’ve never truly competed with anybody that level before,” Murphy continued. “I don’t remember the fourth round, really, so I guess that’s pretty good,” Murphy added. “Is Valentina head and shoulders above everybody in the division right now? Probably so. I can’t see anyone becoming champion while she decides to continue being the champion.”
Shevchenko beat Murphy via fifth-round technical knockout and you can watch the finish by clicking here.
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