Michael Morales wants to make it clear that his perfect record is legit.
On Tuesday, record-keeping website Tapology revealed that the undefeated Morales (listed at 19-0, per UFC) actually suffered a loss on the Ecuadorian show Ultima Pelea, the South American country’s version of The Ultimate Fighter. According to Tapology, Morales had one win and one loss on the show, bringing his record to 20-1.
The news led to widespread controversy on social media, prompting Morales to issue a firm response on Instagram.
“I am going to hit injustice right in the face,” Morales wrote in Spanish. “F*ck you, Tapology.”
Morales’ message was accompanied by a laughing emoji and a middle finger emoji.
According to Tapology, even though the bout was part of a pre-taped television program, “The rules and structure of the fights meet our criteria of professional MMA.” See their statement below.
Making matters more confusing is Ultima Pelea’s comparison to TUF. The UFC’s long-running reality competition program has always classified bouts on the show as exhibitions that should not be counted on a fighter’s pro record (one reason for this is to prevent results of the pre-taped show to be leaked before the fights are broadcast). However, there is no clear indication that Ultima Pelea bouts are intended to be viewed as exhibitions.
The bouts on Ultima Pelea also feature slightly different rules than most fight fans are used to, including the duration being two five-minute rounds, and elbows not being permitted, but this is not unique to the Ecuadorian show and countless pro fighters have bouts with differing rules mixed into their records (Khabib Nurmagomedov being a prominent example).
Record-keeping site Sherdog also issued a statement in response to the controversy, noting their decision to keep Morales’ record unaltered.
This kind of discussion isn’t exclusive to events outside of North America, as TUF has also featured fighters losing on the show and continuing to be billed as undefeated. One recent example is Bryce Mitchell, who made his official UFC debut at 9-0 despite being submitted by Brad Katona on their season of TUF in 2018.
Morales’ undefeated status is of great interest to fans and possibly the UFC’s matchmakers as they decide who should be the next challenger for welterweight champion Islam Makhachev. In his most recent outing, Morales scored a first-round knockout of top contender Sean Brady to improve to 7-0 in the UFC.
For MMA Fighting’s purposes, Morales will continue to be listed at 19-0 overall.
You can judge for yourself by checking out Morales’ Ultima Pelea submission loss below.
