Tag: Michael Morales

Rising UFC contender Michael Morales wants to fight Ian Machado Garry: ‘I really dislike that guy’

Michael Morales wants to fight fellow undefeated welterweight Ian Machado Garry.

[autotag]Michael Morales[/autotag] is not one to ask the UFC for specific names or call out opponents. However, there is one person he’d really like to fight.

The rising UFC welterweight prospect is eager to face Ian Machado Garry, a fellow undefeated fighter, ideally in his next bout, but certainly at some point in his career. Morales (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is not a fan of Garry, which is the main reason why he’d like to face him.

“Ian Garry, Ian Garry,” Morales told MMA Junkie in Spanish when asked who he’d like to fight next. “If I get the opportunity to fight him, I’ll welcome that. He’s someone I want to fight. If I get the opportunity to fight him, that would be great. I really dislike that guy. There’s nothing I like about him, but it’s not whatever I like or dislike, it’s whatever the UFC wants for me next.

“So if I get the chance to fight him, then thank you very much, but if it’s not him, I also welcome it. Whoever is next can get it.”

The 24-year-old says the reason he wants to fight Garry is that there are things he doesn’t like about him personally, plus that Garry has mentioned his name in the past as a potential fight.

“He said something like I’m coming up the rankings, but I’m coming up too fast and the fight against Max Griffin shouldn’t have happened or something like that,” Morales said. “I forget what site was the interview from, but said something along those lines. He’s saying I should be fighting more experienced fighters, but he’s been almost knocked out in every single one of his fights, so I don’t think he can give his opinion on that.”

Morales is undefeated in his fighting career and 4-0 since joining the UFC in 2021 after winning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series. Most recently, the Ecuadorian fighter outpointed veteran Jake Matthews in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 232 earlier this month. He hopes to return at UFC 299 in March to fight alongside countryman Marlon Vera, who will be challenging Sean O’Malley for the bantamweight title.

Garry has six wins under the UFC banner with his most recent being a unanimous decision win over Neil Magny in August. He returns to the cage on Dec. 16 at UFC 296 against top contender Vicente Luque.

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Michael Morales calls for return at UFC 299 alongside ‘Chito’ Vera: ‘It would be two Ecuadorians representing’

Michael Morales wants a spot on UFC 299 alongside his Ecuadorian countryman ‘Chito’ Vera.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Michael Morales[/autotag] has his sight set on UFC 299.

The UFC welterweight prospect already has a date in mind for his return to the octagon following his unanimous decision win over veteran Jake Matthews in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 232.

Morales (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) wants to compete at UFC 299 in March because [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag], a fellow countryman from Ecuador, challenges UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley in the main event of the card.

“I would like to get the opportunity to make my return for ‘Chito’s fight against O’Malley,” Morales told reporters through an interpreter at the UFC Fight Night 232 post-fight press conference. “It’s a great event, and I’d like to share that with him. It would be two Ecuadorians representing Latin America. If the opportunity does happen, I will give it my all in whatever fight I get. I will be prepared.”

Morales didn’t call anyone out in his post-fight interview, but many imagine something big is on his way. He’s currently 4-0 in the UFC and has beaten notable names in the process such as Matthews (19-7 MMA, 12-7 UFC) and Max Griffin.

Morales feels his MMA game is coming together, and was very happy with the way he performed on Saturday.

“I felt relaxed, and I felt good the entire fight,” Morales said. “We analyzed the fight very well. Funny, everything my trainer told me, that’s what Jake Matthews did. The hooks, the kicks, everything. I was able to deal with it well. The strikes that he connected didn’t do much damage. It was a good fight that I made and a good strategy that we had in place.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.

UFC Fight Night 232 post-event facts: Brendan Allen on an all-time submission streak

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 232, which saw Brendan Allen put him name in the books with Royce Gracie and Demian Maia.

The UFC closed its November schedule on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 232, which took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and saw 10 of 14 fights end in a stoppage.

One of those finishes belonged to main event winner [autotag]Brendan Allen[/autotag] (23-5 MMA, 11-2 UFC), who submitted [autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag] (17-7-1 MMA, 9-7-1 UFC) with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their middleweight clash, extending his winning streak to six and putting him in the discussion among the more serious contenders in the weight class.

For more on the numbers behind Allen’s performance, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 232.

UFC Fight Night 232 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Top earners get $16,000

UFC Fight Night 232 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 232 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $158,500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC Fight Night 232 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC Fight Night 232 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Brendan Allen[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Michael Morales[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jake Matthews[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Chase Hooper[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Jordan Leavitt[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Payton Talbott[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Nick Aguirre[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Amanda Ribas[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Luana Pinheiro[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Myktybek Orolbai[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Uros Medic[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Joanderson Brito[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Jonathan Pearce[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Jose Johnson[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Chad Anheliger[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Christian Duncan[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Denis Tiuliulin[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Mick Parkin[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Caio Machado[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Jeka Saragih[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Lucas Alexander[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Ailin Perez[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Lucie Pudilova[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Trey Ogden[/autotag]: $4,500
vs. [autotag]Nikolas Motta[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Rafael Estevam[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Charles Johnson[/autotag]: $6,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2321 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $7,464,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $21,983,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.

UFC Fight Night 232 video: Hear from each winner, guest fighters backstage

Check out what the UFC Fight Night 232 winners and guest fighters had to say backstage at Saturday’s event.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 232 took place Saturday with 14 bouts on the lineup. We’ve got you covered with backstage winner interviews from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

You can hear from all the UFC Fight Night 232 winners by checking out their post-fight news conferences below.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.

Ecuador’s Michael Morales confident ‘Chito’ Vera beats Sean O’Malley at UFC 299, wants spot on the card

Ecuador’s Michael Morales hopes to fight alongside ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 299.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Michael Morales[/autotag] has a big test this Saturday, yet he already has plans for the future.

The UFC welterweight prospect takes on veteran Jake Matthews in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 232. Although this is arguably Morales’ (15-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) the biggest fight and spotlight of his young career, the Ecuadorian fighter is keeping an eye on the UFC 299 pay-per-view in March, which features his countryman [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] against UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley.

“I’m 100 percent sure that ‘Chito’ is going to come out with the win and be as high as possible,” Morales told reporters in Portuguese at Wednesday’s media day. “We’ve shown it before, but for me, Ecuador is the most badass country. I think that this an opportunity he’s built for himself and he’s already beat O’Malley. He’s sure of his work and I give him all my confidence that he’s going to come out the winner. This is a great opportunity for him and other Ecuadorians because he can open so many doors for Latin America.

“If God permits, I would love to share that event with him. That’s possible. That would be huge for all the people who are supporting us and I wish him the best in the future and I hope he stays champion.”

Morales may be looking ahead, but he knows what he has in front of him this Saturday. He believes Matthews (19-6 MMA, 12-6 UFC) is a very similar fighter to him and thinks this is a great opportunity to further his career.

“I think this is a great opportunity,” Morales said. “I’ve always respected my rivals due to their trajectory, I never discredit their work inside this great league of UFC. I just prepare myself and stay ready for whenever they call me. I’m always training after every fight. I’m very happy that I’m getting a more experienced rival. This also helps me see where I’m going. I think training and being ready always is something that I love doing. I’m just doing the work I always do.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.

Video: UFC Fight Night 232 media day interviews

Before UFC Fight Night 232 on Saturday, watch as the main card athletes speak to reporters at media day.

LAS VEGAS – UFC Fight Night 232, which takes place at the UFC Apex with a card that streams entirely on ESPN+, goes down Saturday.

Before the fights arrive, though, notable athletes from the main card spoke to reporters Wednesday at media day.

If you happen to miss any of the individual sessions on the live stream, check below for the archived videos of each media day.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 232.

Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (Sept. 18-24)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were first reported or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie or officially announced by the promotions from Sept. 18-24.

Michael Morales didn’t take bait for pre-fight trash talk vs. Max Griffin: ‘I train to fight, not to talk’

Michael Morales is not in the business of trash talking.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Michael Morales[/autotag] is not in the business of trash talking.

The Ecuadorian prospect made it clear he’s only interested in what’s done in the cage, not outside of it, in his fight against Max Griffin at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 47.

Morales (15-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) defeated Griffin (19-10 MMA, 7-8 UFC) with a unanimous decision and after speaking to the media, he explained why he didn’t engage his opponent in trash talk despite getting thrown some shots his way at Wednesday’s media day.

“I train to fight, not to talk,” Morales said in Spanish to reporters at the post-fight press conference. “I always do my job, and I’m always proud of my team. I give everything I have in training, and I feel like my work spoke for itself. I didn’t need to do more talking than necessary. I don’t know why he said those things or what was going through his mind, but I’m very happy with what I said, felt and showed in the cage.”

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As far as the performance itself, Morales kept his unbeaten record and move to 3-0 in the UFC. He also took home a few bumps and bruises given the tough nature of the fight.

Morales is not completely satisfied with his performance, but happy he got his hand raised in the end. He thinks he has more to give than what he showed on Saturday night.

“I think it was just the discipline,” Morales said when asked about the adversity of the fight. “I stayed attentive to his strikes and focused on all the work that I was doing. I was countering. I know that my shots hurt him a lot because his face is busted up. He said that he was going to try to dominate me and fight forward. He did that, and I also did the same. I did my work. I said I was going to give it my all, and the fight went down how it went down. I feel like I could’ve done better. I feel like I could’ve given more, but everything still worked out, thank God.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 47.

UFC on ESPN 47 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Sean Strickland, Kevin Lee get most money

UFC on ESPN 47 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 47 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $144,500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC on ESPN 47 took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card aired on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

The full UFC on ESPN 47 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Abus Magomedov[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Grant Dawson[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Damir Ismagulov[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Michael Morales[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Max Griffin[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Melissa Gatto[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Ismael Bonfim[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Nursulton Ruziboev[/autotag]: $4,000
def.[autotag]Brunno Ferreira[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Rinat Fakhretdinov[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Kevin Lee[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Joanderson Brito[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Westin Wilson[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Karol Rosa[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Yana Santos[/autotag]: $6,000

[autotag]Elves Brener[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Guram Kutateladze[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Ivana Petrovic[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Alexandr Romanov[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Blagoy Ivanov[/autotag]: $6,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $47,000 while title challengers get $47,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-47 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2023 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $4,109,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $18,698,000

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 47.