Michael Morales is the UFC Vegas 96 fighter to watch

On August 24, the UFC APEX will get a fight card headlined by a middleweight fight with high stakes for the top five division. No. 5 ranked Jared Cannonier will be fighting No. 12 ranked Caio Borralho in a veteran vs. young prospect matchup. This entire card practically has the theme of veterans vs. prospects due to how many similar matchups of that theme are on this card. The co-main event is No. 9 ranked Angela Hill taking on No. 11 ranked Tabatha Ricci in a women's strawweight matchup. Though those matchups are intriguing, there is one fighter, competing on the card, that is worth paying attention to. His name is Michael Morales, and he is an undefeated, rising prospect in the welterweight division.

Morales comes from Ecuador, as he has a background in judo and wrestling. As he won youth tournaments in the wrestling department, he began training mixed martial arts in Machala, Ecuador, when he turned 14. After training for four years, he started professionally competing in 2017. For his first five years, he competed in various MMA organizations in South America, where he won every fight. In his first 11 fights, Morales won with nine knockouts, one submission, and one decision.

The UFC eventually noticed Morales and gave him a shot in Dana White's Contender Series in September 2021. In his fight against Nikolay Veretennikov, Morales outclassed him unanimously, earning himself a UFC contract. His UFC debut was eventually scheduled for UFC 270 against Trevin Giles in January 2022. Due to fighters getting injured and having their fights canceled, Morales' UFC debut got bumped up to the main card. Morales' debut appearing on a PPV was a major opportunity for him to make the most of his debut and make everyone notice his skills on a major stage. Despite getting rocked and wrestled early, Morales pushed through to get a first-round knockout to win his UFC debut.

Morales' next fight was against Adam Fugitt at UFC 277 in July 2022. Morales faced adversity as there was competitive striking and a major wrestling pace put on him. Luckily, he defended seven of Fugitt's eight takedowns until he got a stoppage victory in the third round. Morales likely had trouble due to the different style of a short-notice replacement since his original opponent, Ramiz Brahimaj, pulled out two weeks before. Morales had a year-long layoff due to pulling out of a scheduled fight with Rinat Fakhretdinov in late 2022 due to an injury. He won two unanimous decision victories over Max Griffin, in July 2023, and Jake Matthews, in November 2023.

Michael Morales fights Neil Magny at UFC Vegas 96

Morales will now be facing No. 12 ranked Neil Magny on August 24. This will be the most experienced and highest-ranked opponent Morales has faced. This is an opponent Morales can shine with to get himself into the welterweight rankings. Magny likes to range strike with his 80-inch reach, but Morales has crisper striking with his 79-inch reach. Magny also loves clinch wrestling, but, but Morales' more elite wrestling experience can help him win grappling exchanges. Calf kicks will be easy to find for Morales, leading to headshots for a knockout.

Though Morales has had close fights recently, he is only 25 and is still improving in skill over time. Since it has been many months since Morales' last fight, there is no way of knowing what he could have improved on since then. There is a chance everyone sees Morales officially enter his prime with an impressive victory over Magny. The close fights he recently had could have helped Morales examine holes in his game to improve. With the potential to add to the already existing killers at welterweight, Morales is the fighter to watch on the upcoming fight card.