Michael Jonathan Morales Hurtado (born June 24, 1999) is an Ecuadorian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC).

Background

Michael Morales was born in 1999 in

Pasaje Pasaje is a small town in the lowlands of the El Oro Province, Ecuador. Pasaje is the seat of the Pasaje Canton. It is located on the border of the Jubones River. External links mipasaje.com
Website with local information in Spanish (language), ...

, El Oro, Ecuador. He is the son of judokas, a discipline he has been practicing since he was five years old, where his mother was his first coach. At the age of 10, he switched from

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, where he won several youth tournaments. At the age of 14, his father took him to Víctor Vallejo's academy in Machala, where he began to practice

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

While fully focusing on MMA, he juggled a job at a naval boat factory. In 2021, he began his journey through Mexico, arriving in

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
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to train at Entram Gym. On March 29, 2021, he signed a contract with Ultimate Warrior Challenge (UWC).

Dana White's Contender Series

On September 21, 2021, Morales faced Nikolay Veretennikov for a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series: Season 5, Week 4. Morales earned the contract by defeating Veretennikov via unanimous decision.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Morales made his UFC debut against Trevin Giles on January 22, 2022, at UFC 270. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. Morales was scheduled to face Ramiz Brahimaj at

UFC 277 ''UFC 277: Peña vs. Nunes 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 30, 2022, at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, United States. Background A UFC Women's Bantamweight Cha ...

on July 30, 2022. However, Brahimaj was forced to withdraw from the event in mid-July due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Adam Fugitt. Morales won the fight via TKO in the third round. Morales was scheduled to face

Rinat Fakhretdinov Rinat Ryashitovich Fakhretdinov tt, Ринат Рәшит улы Фәхретдинов (born 28 September 1991) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Champion ...

on December 17, 2022, at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland. However, Morales withdrew due to a toe fracture. Morales faced

Max Griffin Max Griffin (born November 29, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. Griffin currently competes in the Welterweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2009, Griffin has also c ...

on July 1, 2023, at

UFC on ESPN 48 ''UFC on ESPN: Strickland vs. Magomedov'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 48'' and ''UFC Vegas 76'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 1, 2023, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterpr ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Morales faced Jake Matthews on November 18, 2023, at

UFC Fight Night 232 ''UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Craig'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 232, UFC on ESPN+ 90'' and ''UFC Vegas 82'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 18, 2023, at the UFC Apex ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Morales is scheduled to face Neil Magny on August 24, 2024 at UFC on ESPN 62.

Mixed martial arts record

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

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Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

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Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 , Miguel Arizmendi , TKO (punches) , UWC 26 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:02 ,

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, Mexico , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Ricardo Centeno , KO (punch) , EMMA 17 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:45 ,

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

, Ecuador , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Daniel Luigy Bastidas , TKO (doctor Stoppage) , EMMA 16 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:01 ,

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, Ecuador , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Mathias Salazar , TKO (punches) , Manaba Top Team 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:40 , El Guabo, Ecuador , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Óscar Ravello , TKO (corner stoppage) , FFC 39 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, Peru , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Leonardo Blasco , Decision (unanimous) , TFC 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

La Troncal La Troncal is the seat of La Troncal Canton in the Cañar Province, Ecuador. The region that would become this significant town, was sparsely populated by farmers until the 1950s. The population began to grow in the 1950s, when migrants from Az ...

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Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * Sa ...

, Ecuador , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Álvaro Vacacela Guerrero , TKO (punches) , OFC 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:15 ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Michael Ecuadorian male mixed martial artists 1999 births Living people Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters