Michael Morales is declared by ESPN the UFC Rookie of the Year | Other Sports | Sports

Michael Morales is 23 years old, with a solid wrestling foundation and very good reach for the 170-pound division. He is 14-0 and has never been in any danger in his three appearances on the UFC tag.

The Orensen martial artist knocked out in his appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021 and then came to the promotion with finishes over Trevin Giles and Adam Fugitt in two numbered events (UFC 270 and UFC 277). An injury (from a broken toe) prevented him from having a third fight this year in December, against the Russian Rinat Fakhretdinov. But Morales himself has advanced that in February or March he will be back in the cage. Due to his attributes, ESPN Deportes has declared the Ecuadorian the Rookie of the Year in the UFC.

For 2023, he has planned “More fights, more challenges, more steps to climb.” “I have to always stay alert and train all the time. I spoke with Raúl (Arvizu, his head coach) about going to train in the United States, because there are heavier people (higher level) there. The plan is to go (to the US) and come back (to Mexico). Raúl told me about a camp in Brooklyn (New York) because there are heavy people there, I don’t know exactly the gym, ”he told EL UNIVERSO last September.

Don’t rush. Morales knows that every step he has taken within the company is an immense achievement.

“My coach always tells me: ‘You’re 23 years old, you shouldn’t spend yourself, you shouldn’t melt down, you just have to wait because you have a very long career.’ The top, so to speak, or the limit for a fighter to reach his greatest strength or greatest capacity, is 30 years old. I have a long way to go. Raúl is the one in charge of my career and I just wait for what he says”.

The young Ecuadorian still does not appear in the Top 15 of the welterweight, category commanded by Leon Edwards. He is seconded by former champion Kamaru Usman.

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