LEE MURRAY was on the path to superstardom in the world of MMA before he was jailed for Britain’s largest cash robbery.
Murray, from Greenwich, was a feared London brawler who gained a notorious reputation on the streets.
But in the cage, he was an MMA prodigy tipped to make it to the top of the sport.
Before even signing for the UFC, he became an urban legend for allegedly knocking out then-champion Tito Ortiz in a street fight.
He even took on MMA great Anderson Silva in 2004 – but his career in the cage – and life – almost ended after being stabbed outside a nightclub 12 months later.
The following year, in 2006, Murray was involved in Britain’s largest heist – which landed him 25 years in jail.
Murray threw away a promising MMA career, which his friend and former training partner Alexis Demetriades believed really had no limits.
Demetriades told SunSport: “He was a superstar. He’s an absolute superstar. I saw him beat Tito Ortiz in the streets, yeah I’ve seen it.
“The stuff I’ve seen him do – he’s an absolute legend. A very, very tough human being. A very tough man in any situation.
“I’ve seen him on his back with people on top of him in side control and just sleeps them. And they’re on top of him, sleeping.
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“He had such heavy hands, such good fight IQ, such good awareness. He was an absolute talent.”
Murray had eight wins in 11 bouts when he made his UFC debut in 2004, beating Jorge Rivera.
But a previous road rage incident would come back to haunt him after he was denied a US visa – thus ending his UFC hopes.
Just a year later – after his final ever MMA fight – Murray was lucky to survive after being stabbed outside the Funky Buddha nightclub in Mayfair.
He suffered a punctured lung and a severed artery and had to be resuscitated four times during the life-saving operation.
But Murray fought his way back and planned on an MMA comeback.
Demetriades said: “We’ve been to war with each other around the world. He’s family and the epitome of a fighter.”
The MMA coach – who heads up London Shootfighters – was there the night Murray claimed to have KO’d Ortiz in the streets.
He was a superstar. He’s an absolute superstar. I saw him beat Tito Ortiz in the streets, yeah I’ve seen it.
Alexis Demetriades
And he can attest to the force of Murray’s famously powerful punches himself.
Demetriades said: “His hands were devastating when they hit you.
“Even in sparring with him, I got clipped by him and got cut a couple of times by him. I don’t usually get cut, that doesn’t normally happen.
“But he was that kind of guy that he just had that power and that kind of intensity. He was a very intense character.”
After recovering from his near fatal stabbing in 2005, Murray plotted a return to the cage and began training again.
But, just a year later and Murray’s life as he knew it would change forever.
He was part of a seven-man squad armed with guns that brazenly stole £53MILLION from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge in February 2006.
It remains the largest heist in UK history and soon after Murray fled to Morocco, where his dad was born.
But in June, only four months after the robbery, Murray and his friend and criminal associate Paul Allen were arrested in Morocco.
Allen was went back to the UK and sentenced to 18 years – but served six before his release in 2016.
Murray instead remained in Morocco after his extradition was refused – and he was ordered to serve ten years behind bars.
But that was later extended to 25 YEARS after prosecutors argued that his original sentence was too lenient.
Murray is due to be released in 2035 – although he is still pushing for a pardon from King Mohammed VI of Morocco.
His son – Lenie – is an amateur boxer and apparently a chip off the old block.
