MMA fighter Lee Murray could've been a UFC champion, but a road rage incident put an end to that dream and now he’s serving 25 years in a Moroccan prison.
‘Lightning’ impressed everyone when he beat Jorge Rivera, whom Michael Bisping once fought in his fledgling career, in his first and last UFC fight in 2004.
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Murray, who was known for being a prolific knockout artist, stretched his record to 8-1-1 with a shock submission win at UFC 46 in Las Vegas.
The then-26-year-old used his post-fight interview to call out UFC light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz whom he had previously knocked out during an infamous street fight.
It appeared the Englishman would be fast-tracked to title contention, but he was later charged with assault and was therefore unable to travel stateside to compete in MMA’s premier promotion due to a visa issue.
Murray was heading to a family gathering on Christmas Day with his eight-month-pregnant wife Siobhan and six-year-old daughter Lily when the incident that effectively ended his MMA career took place.
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“The guy was driving down the road about 10 miles [per hour], about as fast as a milk float,” he explained in Showtime’s ‘Catching Lightning’ documentary about his life.
“So, I’ve overtook him, and he’s come racing up behind me flashing his lights. He cut up in front of me and smashed the front of my car.
"I’ve raced up behind him now to get him to stop because obviously he’s smashed my car. Siobhan’s in the car, and she’s eight months pregnant. She’s terrified, begging me to stop.
"I’ve turned off, let the guy go and go to go my mum’s house. The guy pulled up beside me. He’s just put his foot to the floor and just rammed the side of my car. He’s smashed the whole back end of my car in.
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“All the windows have gone through, there’s glass all over my daughter, she's in the back of the car screaming and he’s going backward and forward ramming my car.”
Murray’s now ex-wife fell out of the car onto her stomach, causing the MMA fighter to chase down the man trying to do his family harm.
He added: "I’ve managed to get the door open. I’ve put my arm across his throat to try and get the keys out of the ignition and he’s bit a hole in my arm.
“I’ve managed to get him out the car. I hit him with one punch, apparently, that broke his cheekbone. Then I’ve hit him again and he went out.
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"He’s trying to kill my family. I gave him the least of what he should’ve got, he should’ve got a lot more than what I gave him.
"The one good career that I had to get me up and out of the street, they took away from me. Why they would want to do something like that? I don’t know."
Murray was charged with assault, but it later came out that the man he got into an altercation with had been jailed following a previous road rage incident, and the case collapsed.
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Despite being cleared, the British fight star was no longer able to travel to America and his dream of becoming a UFC champion was over.
Murray tried to continue his career but suffered a defeat to future legend Anderson Silva before being stabbed multiple times outside a London nightclub.
The now-45-year-old never fought again as his focus shift to a criminal career, and he began planning the biggest cash heist in British history.
In 2006, Murray and a group of masked men ransacked a Securitas depot in Kent and walked away with £53 million in a shocking robbery that gained worldwide media coverage.
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Some of his accomplices remain at large and £32 million of the stolen money is still unaccounted for, but Murray is currently serving 25 years in prison for his leading role in the crime.
The infamous MMA veteran hasn’t given up on his UFC dream and says he plans to become a champion one way or the other when he’s released from jail in 2035 at the age of 57.
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Murray concluded: “Fighting’s my life. Fighting’s in my blood.
“If I’m not in there fighting myself, I’m going to be taking people in there. One way or another I need to win that UFC title. My story isn’t finished. This isn’t the end.”
