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UFC Cage Locks: Lerone Murphy, Josh Emmett kick off featherweight month
April is a pivotal and transitional month for the UFC’s featherweight division, and the action begins Saturday when Josh Emmett meets Lerone Murphy in a Fight Night main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
April is a pivotal and transitional month for the UFC’s featherweight division, and the action begins Saturday when Josh Emmett meets Lerone Murphy in a five-round Fight Night main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
A new champion will be crowned next weekend at UFC 314 when former longtime champ Alex Volkanovski and streaking contender Diego Lopes face each other in the main event, after reigning featherweight champion Ilia Topuria officially vacates the belt; Topuria has decided to move up to the lightweight division, so Volkanovski and Lopes will fight for a vacant title.
England’s Murphy, 33, is 15-0-1 as a pro and coming off wins over Edson Barboza and Dan Ige. A win over Emmett will see his ascension up the ranks continue.
America’s Emmett is regarded as one of the hardest punchers in the division’s history but hasn’t fought since his late-2023 highlight knockout of Bryce Mitchell and is now 40 years old.
The winner of the headline matchup will hold a spot in the top 10 with Emmett currently ranked No. 8 in the division and Murphy No. 10. Murphy is the betting favourite despite his lower ranking.
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UFC on Sportsnet
Featherweight action headlines at the UFC Apex with Josh Emmett and Lerone Murphy meeting in a Fight Night main event. Watch the action on Saturday, April 5 on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+ with coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
Saturday’s co-main event also takes place in the 145-pound division with Joanderson Brito, who holds a previous win over Lopes, facing submission specialist Pat Sabatini.
UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Murphy has 12 scheduled bouts after one was cancelled at Friday’s official weigh-in following a no-show.
Projected bout order and full predictions below.
MAIN CARD
— Josh Emmett vs. Lerone Murphy
— Pat Sabatini vs. Joanderson Brito
— Cortavious Romious vs. Chang Ho Lee
— Brad Tavares vs. Gerald Meerschaert
— Ode’ Osbourne vs. Luis Gurule
— Torrez Finney vs. Robert Valentin
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Davey Grant vs. Daniel Santos
— Diana Belbita vs. Dione Barbosa
— Rhys McKee vs. Daniel Frunza
— Loma Lookboonmee vs. Istela Nunes
— Victor Henry vs. Pedro Falcao
— Martin Buday vs. Uran Satybaldiev
— Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Talita Alencar
Ahead of each UFC event in 2025, UFC reporter Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter), producer Dan Fernandes (@DanFernandes__) and writer/editor Mike Johnston (@MikeyJ_MMA) will peruse the odds and make four betting predictions: one best bet, one favourite, one underdog and one dart throw wager. REMINDER: Sportsnet is committed to promoting and educating audiences about the importance of betting responsibly. Sources for responsible gambling can be found HERE.
AARON’S PICKS
Best bet: Loma Lookboonmee -800
Favourite: Romious vs. Lee goes the distance -150
Underdog: Rhys McKee +120
Dart throw: Pat Sabatini by Decision +500
Lookboonmee should have every advantage in her fight against Nunes. She is better on the ground, throws more volume and is superior on the feet. Nunes has not won a fight in nearly seven years and frankly, I’m not sure why she remains on the UFC roster. … Romious and Lee should be something of a stalemate and I expect the fight to go the distance. … McKee has fought the much higher level of competition than Frunza, who has been an underdog in his most recent wins. I think McKee is the value side. … If Sabatini can take Brito down, I expect him to establish control and do damage on the ground. He could find a submission, but I think he will prioritize the win over taking big risks.
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DAN’S PICKS
Best bet: Torrez Finney -275
Favourite: Martin Buday -155
Underdog: Ode Osbourne +200
Dart throw: Gerlad Meerschaert by submission +400
It’s hard not to cheer for Torrez Finney. He’s had such a difficult road just to get to the UFC that I don’t see him suffering a setback in his highly anticipated debut against a relatively inexperienced opponent in Robert Valentin. … I really like veteran Ode Osbourne’s chances of upsetting the odds here. He pushed Ronaldo Rodriguez to the limit in a losing effort at Noche UFC last year and desperately needs this win. He takes on UFC debutant Luis Gurule who is 10-0-0 in MMA. But there are levels to this sport and I think Osbourne provides some teachable moments en route to victory. … GM3 by submission is one of my all-time go to props. History tells us there’s always a chance the submission-magician can hit this propand he’s done it with even longer odds than -400. Here’s hoping we see vintage Meerschaert on Saturday night.
MIKE’S PICKS
Best bet: Joanderson Brito to win outright -250
Favourite: Chang Ho Lee -125
Underdog: Josh Emmett +260
Dart throw: Robert Valentin by KO/TKO in Rounds 1-2 +1200
Emmett’s layoff and age are major concerns at this point, so maybe I’ve got some tunnel vision here but I see Murphy being hesitant, especially early, and that can leave an opening for Emmett to land a bomb or steal some rounds. … Kennedy Nzechukwu was my initial lock before he withdrew from the card and Sabatini presents a tough challenge in the co-main yet I simply see Brito being able to keep this one standing long enough to hurt his opponent and once he does that it’ll be tough for Sabatini to take control of the match. … The Finney vs. Valentin matchup is interesting as it pits a recent Contender Series grad versus a recent TUF finalist. Valentin has more finishing potential in this one so there could be an upset. Finney is so muscular he doesn’t have much of a neck so I’ll go against the flow and say Valentin gets it done with strikes instead of his usual submissions.
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CAGE LOCKS PARLAY
Three legs: Lookboonmee + Finney + Brito
Parlay odds: +115 (to win: $115)
2025 STANDINGS AFTER 11 EVENTS
CAGE LOCKS PARLAY
2025 record: 6-5 (W1)
2025 winnings: +$51.34 (on $100 bets)
AARON’S RECORDS/TOTALS (+4.98 units)
Best bet: 9-2 (-$30.03)
Favourite: 3-8 (-$646.81)
Underdog: 7-3-1 (+$675.24)
Dart throw: 3-8 (+$500)
DAN’S RECORDS/TOTALS (+0.51 units)
Best bet: 10-1 (+$106.67)
Favourite: 5-6 (-$266.27)
Underdog: 8-3 (+$750.24)
Dart throw: 1-10 (-$540)
MIKE’S RECORDS/TOTALS (-10.00 units)
Best bet: 8-3 (-$76.38)
Favourite: 6-5 (+$0.71)
Underdog: 4-6-1 (+$175)
Dart throw: 0-11 (-$1,100)
Best bet: The pick deemed to be the wager most likely to win regardless of what the odds look like. The Cage Locks parlay will combine Aaron’s, Dan’s and Mike’s respective best bet for each event.
Favourite: A fighter with winning odds shorter than -300 but not longer than -110. On chalkier cards with a dearth of available moneyline favourites that meet those criteria, prop bets are allowed to be selected.
Underdog: Any fighter with longer odds than their opponent’s.
Dart throw: Any prop bet or moneyline wager with odds of +400 or longer.
(Betting odds above were submitted at various times throughout week, and subject to change prior to the fights)
