LAS VEGAS – Michael Morales has his sights set on UFC welterweight gold and has a timeline in mind for his goal.
On the main card of UFC on ESPN 62, Morales (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) passed the toughest test of his career thus far by stopping Neil Magny in the first round. As of late, Magny (29-12 MMA, 22-11 UFC) has been tasked with taking on young upstarts, but the undefeated Ecuadorian was too much to handle.
“I wanted to finish him in the first round,” Morales told reporters through an interpreter at a post-fight news conference. “It wasn’t the strategy, but I wanted to do it, obviously.”
After a pair of unanimous decision wins, questions were swirling about Morales’ ability to finish fights against tougher competition, considering he started his UFC career with two stoppage victories. However, after smashing Magny in the first round, a different set of questions will be asked.
Morales, 25, is young, undefeated, and appears to be a real problem for the top names in the division. So, where does he go from here?
“As far as names are concerned, I think there’s a couple of names out there,” Morales said. “I think (Vicente) Luque is somebody that would be an opportunity to fight. Michael Chiesa, I saw him around here, so that was something. Also, Ian Garry. We call him out, I don’t know where he is. So those are some opportunities to fight.”
Beyond having a few names at the tip of his tongue for his next challenge, Morales believes he will capture the division’s title in the coming years. For now, he’s focused on climbing the ladder, but aims to be the best in the world very soon.
“I’ve always said by 27, I want to be a champion,” Morales said. “You never know. Listen, at 25, Here I am. I never thought I was going to come in the UFC that early, and here I was at 21. Maybe top five, top 10 at the end of the year, and let’s see what happens.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 62.
