Dept. of Corrections: Lee Murray
So, we published a list feature on Friday (“The 10 Most Despicable People in MMA”), and reactions were, let’s just say, “mixed.” A lot of you felt that Dana White shouldn’t have been as high as #2, to which we can only reply “Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.” Yes, yes, we’re aware of all the great things he’s done for our sport. But can you think of anybody else in the world of MMA who you’ve bitched about more over the last couple years? We’re particularly bitter about his contempt for the websites and blogs that work harder than any other media outlet to publicize mixed martial arts. Where do you go for MMA coverage — the sports section of your local paper? ESPN2? No, you have to read eRags like CagePotato because the mainstream media doesn’t care about this sport yet. You’d think Dana White would want to show some love to the journalists that actually understand and care about the UFC, but to him we’re part of the Untouchable class. Trust us, if he provided any sort of press privileges to bloggers whatsoever, DW would be #2 on our list of Favorite People in MMA (after Krazy Horse, obvi).
Still, there was one aspect of the list that we definitely did regret the morning after. As commenter “homegrowncone” said:
Wow. I waited all the way till number 1 for Lee Murray only for him to not even get an honourable mention. This list looses all credibility because of that.
We have to admit, that was an oversight. And we’d just like to take this belated opportunity to say that Lee Murray is a despicable scumbag.
If you’re unaware of his story, Murray is a British middleweight known more for his fights outside of nightclubs than inside cages. Famously, he knocked out Tito Ortiz in an alley after UFC 38 and stomped his head until Pat Miletich and Tony Fryklund dragged him off. He was stabbed during two separate fights in September 2005. In the first, he was stabbed twice and lost one of his nipples; a week later, at the same club, he was stabbed in the heart, reportedly lost six pints of blood, was momentarily clinically dead, but managed to survive.
Of course, none of that really makes him despicable — especially not the part about stomping on Tito Ortiz’s head. But in June 2006, Murray was arrested in Rabat, Morocco, in connection with the Securitas depot robbery — Britain’s biggest cash robbery in history, in which 53 million pounds were nicked. The charges against Murray included “committing violent crime and beating and humiliating members of the security forces.” The lack of an extradition treaty between the United Kingdom and Morocco tied up his sentencing for over a year, but he’s currently sitting in a Moroccan prison. Murray last competed in September 2004 at Cage Rage 8, where he lost a unanimous decision to Anderson Silva.
Notable quote: “I died three times. The last time I died I was dead for about four minutes. The surgeon said to my family, if he recovers there’s a good possibility that he’s going to be brain damaged…My day is already written for when I’m going to die, and that’s the way I believe. It’s not changing what I do in my life. That’s me. If I wasn’t like that I wouldn’t be the fighter I am, and I wouldn’t be who I am.”
Happy now, assholes?
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April 13th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
As one of the people always quick to jump to Dana’s defense, I will definitely give in on the coverage of the sport being PISS poor when it comes to the UFC. I joined their shitty ass fight club a year ago for $65 and couldn’t log in for DAYS. After finally getting in (and missing the pre-sale) I was pretty surprised at how half assed the thing is run. I find ALL my MMA news, clips, info etc from other sites such as Cage Potato. and you guys keep me satisfied, no doubt! I think the one downfall in Dana’s attempt to bring the sport to new heights and popularity is the lack of willingness to see things from the fan’s point of view sometimes. How awesome would a UFC blog be with all the fighters contributing and short UFC All Access type web blogs weekly with different fighters?
April 13th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Lee Murray is the fucking man. Something tells me you just can’t be a TUF noob and appriciate him, he’s like a ”You had to be there” story.
April 13th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Melvin Guillard was also left off of this list. Between cocaine, horrid performances and hours of shit talking…he deserves one of the top spots. He’d top 5 on my list easily.
April 13th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
eric,
i remember, on the show, he would always be like, “do you know who i am?!?!?” i mean, that was like… the only thing he said.. and then.. he lost the very first fight.. LOL..
oh… and Lee Murray.. maybe he’s a douche.. but he is one HELL OF A BEAST IN THE CAGE!!!!
that dude dominates..
first time i saw him fight was against Jorge Rivera.. where he owned him w/ that triangle armbar.. and then i’ve seen some of his fights in Europe since then.. dude’s good.. bottom line..
“Of course, none of that really makes him despicable — especially not the part about stomping on Tito Ortiz’s head”
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alright… CAGEPOTATO.. who the hell are your writers.. because they are the funniest fucking people in the World.. no lie…
April 13th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Haha..yeah CP has some great writers. I love reading their posts.
Great background story on this guy; never heard of him before.
April 13th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Met Lee Murray at an Oasis album release party in 2002. He was quite possibly the coolest dude I have ever had the pleasure to have a beer with. He was so suprised I knew who he was and I quote ” your from the better country across that fuckin pond mate” (Canada) Anyways, I had many beers with him not to mention tokes, snoots and many shots. Ended up running into him again at the after party, it was the next night and we were all still awake goin hard. Coolest fighter I have ever met aside from Wandy.
He is a fuck up, a major one at that, but what a fuckin good guy. Too bad he is a myth now. We will NEVER see him again, unless we see UFC 120: Morroccan Madness
April 13th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
so what happened with the tito and the alley incident. is there any story out there one it or just that he got stomped?
April 14th, 2008 at 4:57 am
Dudes! Lee Murray is the shit! I mean come on. Bank heists, knife fights, and…AND…he knocked Tito Ortiz the FUCK OUT outside a bar or some shit. I don’t condone the stomping on the head, but still…I don’t know. Always liked the dude for some reason. Anyone that can take A. Silva to a decision deserves some kind of props, right?
April 14th, 2008 at 5:51 am
well that explains a lot about Tito
April 14th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Remember to support your local blogger. I feel I’m doing my part. I’m on the mma blogosphere everyday while I should be working.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:18 am
If anyone could find the story on Murray stomping out Tito post it, thats great I want to hear more about this.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:29 am
For all of you that aren’t familiar with the story. Tito saw “Lightning” Lee Murray after that, at the UFC where Murray whooped Rivera’s ass. Tito called Murray out and Murray said he’d fight him. Murray is a true 85er, but would have gone up to fight Tito. Good thing for Tito that “Lightning” got arrested soon after. Murray would have “Liddeled” him.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:34 am
The story is in Matt Hughes book, best part is Chuck’s quote ” I took off my watch and started knocking people out” LOL.
Pat Militech also had a first hand account saying Tito was “out cold” and “snoring”.
LOL, Murray was fuckin rad.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Fuck! I have been to the club where Murray was stabbed - Funky Buddha near Mayfair, London. Was an awesome night and I was in the paper for apparently getting hold of Charlotte Church. Anyway, here’s a snippet from Wiki if anyone is interested:
The entire alley erupted into a huge brawl. I was just standing there, and there were bodies flying all over the place. I was confused how it all happened, because it happened so fast. I was standing there with my mouth open like ‘what the hell is going on?’ I looked over and Chuck Liddell was with his back against the wall, knocking people out that were trying to go after him. Then I looked over and there’s Tito directly past me, taking his coat off, going after Lee Murray, and Lee Murray’s backing up the alley taking his jacket off. Both their jackets come off, and Tito throws a left hook at Lee Murray and misses, and right as he missed, Lee Murray counters with, like, a five-punch combo, landed right on the chin, and knocked Tito out. OUT. Tito fell face-first down to the ground, and then Lee Murray stomped him on the face a couple of times with his boots. Then Tony Fryklund and I grabbed Lee and pushed Lee and said ‘Get out of here!’ And Lee said ‘I’m sorry, I’ll see you later,’ and took off. And Tony Fryklund helped Tito to his feet.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Tito got OWNED!
April 14th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Thanks “Olie”!
That story brought a tear to my eye….
….a tear of JOY!
Maybe this explains why Tito’s head is so huge. Its’ swollen from Murray’s boot-stomps!
…..what an awesome visual….Tito face-first on the ground in some grimy alley…sweet!
April 14th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Thats how we roll in the uk………..yanks are all pussies!
I lost both my nipples in a knife fight with my nan, thats how ard we are!
April 14th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
on tito vs murray story:
i sat next to tito on a flight from OC to vegas.
my first question to him was about what happend with Murray. he said that Murray and about 5 of his friends jumped him and thats how he got knocked out.
that stroy definitely conflicts with Olie’s…. and Pat Militich who later said, and i quote “Lee lit him up like a Christmas tree”
i’m going to have to go with the eye witness accounts. although i’m sure tito actually believes he got jumped, because he really wouldnt remember much after a KO. he probably just remembers seeing a shit load of people around him when he woke up.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
fuck now thats a story haha. Nice if CP could look around and see if they can find an official article. Thats fuckin hilarious. “Chuck Liddell takes of his watch and starts knocking ppl out” lmao. Kinda wondering why all these ppl happened to be walking through an alley at the same time tho…
April 15th, 2008 at 3:04 am
Moo Dude, The club is in mayfair, its all little alleys round there!
But tito is still a fat headed waste of skin!
April 15th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Lol Brits may be tougher than yanks but last time i was in england we got in a brawl with a group of pikies and shit kicked the lot of them….happened in wockingham at the train station LOL why do brits always tear thier shirts off to fight?!!!! tell me you soft nutted bastard
April 15th, 2008 at 9:56 am
The thing about UK guys is that they’re always lanky and tough. We’re used to seeing these jacked guys in America with their chiseled abs and bulging biceps that can’t take a punch and don’t know how to fight. And yes, I’m American. I’ve seen both man times before.
April 15th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Fuckin West Side Stains Massive! What!
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:25 pm
lee murray is number 1 middle wieght he all stand up nd rate him eney 1 that has met him is a lucky fucker
April 30th, 2008 at 9:17 am
“Lol Brits may be tougher than yanks but last time i was in england we got in a brawl with a group of pikies and shit kicked the lot of them….happened in wockingham at the train station LOL why do brits always tear thier shirts off to fight?!!!! tell me you soft nutted bastard”
pfft…”pikies” Hmmm… Has someone seen the movie “snatch”?
August 7th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Sports Illustrated had an article about Lee Murray including the fight in the alley. It supposedly happened over a misunderstanding, one of Murray’s buddies(in prison for the heist) playfully jumped on Miletich’s back since Murray and some of his group had trained with him. Somebody with Miletich thought he was being attacked and bodys started flying. Everyone there says Caleb(TITO) got ktfo!!