Lee Murray solely competed within the UFC one time in 2004 however his infamy for exploits exterior the cage will stay in infamy ceaselessly.
A brand new four-part documentary headed to Showtime on April 7 titled Catching Lightning will element Murray’s wild story how he reworked from a extremely touted MMA fighter to pulling off the most important heist within the historical past of the UK.
The sequence directed by two-time Emmy winner Pat Kondelis will search to discover Murray’s background, which included a infamous interplay with Tito Ortiz following UFC 38 in 2002 the place the heavy-handed Brit allegedly knocked out the previous gentle heavyweight champion throughout a road struggle.
Two years later, Murray made his octagon debut the place he walked to the cage clad in a jail uniform and a masks over his face much like the one worn by Anthony Hopkins when he performed Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs.
Murray would go onto end Jorge Rivera by submission within the first spherical however authorized points prevented him from ever touring into the US once more. He solely fought another time when he misplaced a call to future UFC champion Anderson Silva.
It wasn’t till just a few years later when Murray’s identify hit the headlines once more after he helped orchestrate the most important money heist in U.Ok. historical past after robbing the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, England. The robbers made off with a haul totaling simply over $92 million — and the crew accountable for the theft left greater than triple that behind as a result of they ran out of room to move the money.
Murray was ultimately arrested and tried for the crimes, which led to a 25-year sentence in jail.
“The story of Lee Murray and the Securitas Depot heist is the stuff of Hollywood heist motion pictures: filled with fascinating characters, thrilling motion and surprising plot twists,” Showtime Sports activities president Stephen Espinoza mentioned in a press launch.
“I can’t consider anybody higher suited to weave this cinematic page-turner than Pat Kondelis and his staff at Bat Bridge Leisure. This sequence is the epitome of what we goal to ship: a charming story about larger-than-life personalities and characters instructed by way of a relatable, human lens.”
The documentary will characteristic quite a few interviews together with Silva, who nonetheless stands as Murray’s final opponent in MMA, in addition to UFC Corridor of Famer Chuck Liddell after he witnessed the road struggle with Ortiz.
The four-part documentary will debut on April 7 with streaming on Paramount+.
