Michael Morales may not be the dark horse of the UFC welterweight division anymore. The undefeated Ecuadorian blew the doors off Sean Brady on Saturday inside New York’s Madison Square Garden, potentially paving the way for a 2026 title shot against the winner of UFC 322’s main event.
Fighting out of a low stance to defend against the American’s vaunted wrestling, Morales (19-0) loaded up with long, lunging punches early and rocked Brady (18-2) midway through the first round. He then repeated the favor again just a minute later, sending Brady toppling to the mat off a beautiful five-punch combination. A few more follow-up shots was all it took for Morales to earn the biggest victory of his UFC career.
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The official time of the stoppage came just 3:27 into the opening round, after which Morales donned a Spider-Man mask as he celebrated his victory.
“He’s a stalky welterweight, somebody that’s really strong, so the coaches said keep that center of gravity low,” Morales said post-fight of his unique stance. “Because you know on the walkouts — you smell knockouts and that’s what’s going to happen. And listen, I got a little undisciplined a little bit, but I think it worked and I think everybody enjoyed the fight.”
Morales (19-0) had quietly pieced together a sterling 6-0 UFC record prior to Saturday’s bout, which included big first-round knockouts of Gilbert Burns and Neil Magny. With his seventh straight promotional victory, Morales moves into a tie for the second-longest win streak in the division.
“Listen, I’m not one to talk,” he told Uncrowned ahead of UFC 322. “I’ve been showing, OK. I think I’ve been showing more than telling. I’m someone who’s not going back down from the challenge. I talk about title challenges as somebody who’s ready to actually go and do these things.”
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Brady had been the division’s assumed next-in-line prior to Saturday following his big win over former champ Leon Edwards at UFC London in March, which capped off an 8-1 promotional run.
UFC CEO Dana White declared Morales vs. Brady pre-fight to be a No. 1 contender bout, with welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena set to defend his belt against Islam Makhachev in UFC 322’s main event. However, with a slew of top 170-pound contenders in action over the next two weeks — Carlos Prates also knocked out Leon Edwards on Saturday, and Ian Machado Garry takes on former champ Belal Muhammad on Nov. 22 at UFC Qatar — that title shot still appeared to be up for grabs between whoever emerged from the UFC’s unofficial tournament with the most impressive performance.
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Suffice to say, Morales set the bar high for Garry and Muhammad next week.
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