UFC star Lerone Murphy nearly "bled out" after waiting 45 minutes for an ambulance after colliding with a car at speed while cycling in a near-death experience.
Murphy is undefeated in his professional MMA career and has made three winning appearances since drawing on his UFC debut. The British star has not yet made a return since his victory over Makwan Amirkhani last October, after securing a superb stoppage with a brutal knee.
However, his return could now be delayed further after being pictured on Instagram in hospital with bandage around his head, with the post captioned: "For f**** sake I can’t catch a break. Another near death experience. Yesterday while cycling, an oncoming car turned right without looking and we collided at speed.
"Which caused a nasty head wound. The ambulance took 45 minutes to arrive which nearly caused me to bleed out. I'm here still breathing for a greater purpose clearly."
Murphy has already been nicknamed 'Miracle' after surviving a prior near-death experience after being shot in the face when being gunned down outside a barbers in 2013. The British star was approached by a shooter who fired three bullets into the face and neck of the star, which left him fighting for his life in intensive care.
He was lucky to sustain limited lasting damage other than requiring a new set of artificial teeth and having a bullet fragment permanently present on his tongue. Murphy had previously recalled the incident with doctors at the time claiming he had received a miracle to be alive.
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When it happened it kind of knocked me out for a second then I've woken up and thought 'wow I'm still here'," Murphy told Manchester Evening News regarding the incident. "Of course I do still think about it, I have visions of it and stuff – it was a traumatic experience.
"I'm not sure why it happened. It's one of those things, it could have been mistaken identity or it could have been something I'd done in the past or anything, I don't know. 'The Miracle' name comes from the doctors wondering how did I survive, how wasn't I killed from that? So yeah it's a miracle I'm here today really."
Murphy was set to face Nate Landwehr in March but was forced to withdraw from the event due to undisclosed reasons. His return could now be further delayed after sustaining injuries in the vehicle accident, despite previously admitting he would like to now make a crack at being ranked in the top 15 at featherweight.
"People ask if the matchmakers hate me," Murphy said of his intense promotional beginnings. "It just goes to show what they think of me. They're not giving other UK fighters these types of match-ups, and the matchmakers are giving me massive opportunities to rise up the ranks quickly. I'm 30 years old now, I've got no time to waste."