Lerone Murphy Nickname & Meaning: Why Is He Called ‘The Miracle’?

English fighters have been making a lot of noise in the UFC recently, with an interim heavyweight champion crowned from that nation, and a few more on the rise to the top. At UFC 308, we’ll have another English brawler, Lerone Murphy, going up against Dan Ige, in one of the two featherweight bouts on the main card of the PPV.

33-year-old Lerone Murphy seems like he’s on top of his game as he’s unbeaten in his overall MMA career since the beginning of his journey as a pro fighter. With 7 knockouts and 7 decision wins, he earned the nickname ‘Miracle’ over the years. But what does it really represent? Well, let’s inspect that a little before we see Murphy inside the Octagon in Abu Dhabi.

Why is Lerone Murphy called the ‘Miracle’?

Born in the famous city of Manchester, known for being a sporting and cultural hub, Lerone Murphy once revealed that MMA played a significant role in giving him a purpose. He also mentioned that growing in his area was by no means easy. “Especially in areas like we grew up in, Old Trafford, Levenshulme, all around those type of areas, it’s full of kids like me. Literally, it’s hard,” Murphy told the BBC in 2023.

However, that was far from the real reason why he chose to become an MMA fighter. But the fact that he didn’t have any “direction” given the environment he grew up in, the sport of MMA gave him an avenue to do something big and meaningful, claiming it to be better than soccer. “A lot of kids don’t have direction, so with MMA, there’s a lot of opportunity… You can literally come from nothing and get there. There’s no politics in it like football. You put in the hard work, you get good things back.”

The 33-year-old would later reveal that his nickname, ‘The Miracle’, resonates with the way he scratched and clawed his way into the biggest MMA promotion in the world.“It’s the challenge that gets me up to do this, just waking up every day and chipping away at this goal,” Murphy added.

However, ‘The Miracle’ moniker is also a reference to certain horrifying instances in his life. He actually survived death. Yes, Lerone Murphy had a couple of near-death experiences and one of those saw him getting shot.

Lerone Murphy talks about his unfortunate accident

Lerone Murphy’s life hasn’t been any less than a rollercoaster ride. During an interview in May this year, he revealed a scar on his cheeks from getting shot once. The bullet came out right through it, leaving him unconscious and bloodied. It’s a harrowing thing to even comprehend being in such a situation, but just like a ‘miracle’, Murphy pulled through. “So I spat on the floor, and the bullets came out on the floor. And I jumped in my cousin’s car, and we went to the hospital,” said the 33-year-old.

Lerone Murphy’s second near-death incident, which was almost fatal, involved him being in a tragic accident. While enjoying a day out cycling, he got hit by a car and was abandoned to bleed out. The ambulance took almost an hour to help him. “I was bleeding out. I don’t know, I felt numb. Still numb, it’s weird. It’s just one of the things, like, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, but I don’t think I was scared,” Murphy told BBC.

Lerone Murphy seems to be in the right place now. His record represents how tough he’s turned out to be after all his experiences since childhood. Will that toughness take him all the way to winning gold? Let us know what you think in the comments below.