It’s hard to find a MMA fighter that’s more game than Micheal Murphy.
This Saturday, American Kombat Alliance touches down in Bossier City, Louisiana for what should be a thrilling night of fights.
Headlining the card at Horseshoe Casino will be a battle of fan-favorites between Micheal Murphy and Dey McIntosh, who meet in the welterweight division.
McIntosh, 28, makes his promotional debut at AKA with all of his wins coming inside the distance. For Murphy, this is his third main event at AKA, which he now says feels like home.
Michael Murphy’s insane strength of schedule
Murphy is riding a four-fight win streak across MMA and bareknuckle boxing, stopping former PFL fighter Kyron Bowen in less than two minutes his last time out at AKA 56 in July. Three of these wins took place under the AKA banner.
It’s not really that quick of a turnaround for Murphy, who once had four MMA fights in seven months a couple of years ago. Prior to that, “Murder” took two current UFC fighters to the scorecards in back-to-back fights.
The UFC lightweight division is full of killers and MarQuel Mederos is one of them.
Mederos is unbeaten in his last 11 fights and is 4-0-1 in the Octagon. You might remember him scoring a standing TKO over Mason Jones around this time last month.
One man that Mederos couldn’t knock out was Micheal Murphy. The two fighters went the 15-minute distance back in 2023 and get this, Murphy had fought two months prior to that against another active UFC fighter: Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady.
Al-Selwady is no slouch either, having won his first UFC fight back in March. Murphy might not have beaten Al-Selwady the night they met for a regional title, but Murphy held his own, going the full 25-minute championship distance.
“Just seeing them do their thing lets me know I can get there and I can do my thing,” Murphy said of his former opponents being in the UFC, competing at the highest level.
“All them guys are dangerous guys but they haven’t seen something like me there yet,” Murphy added.
Watch: Micheal Murphy vs Blake LaCaze at AKA 50
Micheal Murphy wants Contender Series after fifth-straight win at AKA 58
Murphy has put much thought into the implications of a win against Dey McIntosh.
If all goes according to plan, it would be his fifth-straight victory across MMA and bareknuckle boxing. Ahead of his second-straight main event at AKA, Murphy says he’s essentially run out of people to fight on the regional scene.
“I said yes to so many people, everybody ran out, man,” Murphy said.
Hanging in there with the likes of UFC lightweights MarQuel Mederos and Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady, the 38-year-old would like nothing more than a shot at the UFC after this.
“I want to get to Contender [Series],” Murphy continued.
“I know it’s a long shot trying to jump in the UFC but I know I can get on Contender,” said Murphy.
Should Contender Series not come for the 27-fight veteran, Micheal Murphy says he’d like to fight for another title.
For Murphy, AKA 58 isn’t just another fight, it’s the way to keep his UFC dreams alive.
Watch Micheal Murphy fight Dey McIntosh in the main event of AKA 58 this Saturday.