Undefeated UFC welterweight fighter Michael Morales was staring down a brutal weight cut for his main event backup role at UFC 330 this weekend in Philadelphia, Penn., but the massive contender ended up pulling it off and tipped the scales at 170 pounds on Friday (official results HERE).
Morales, who is 7-0 under the UFC banner and coming off three-straight knockout wins over Sean Brady, Gilbert Burns, and Neil Magny, was revealed as UFC 330’s backup fighter in late July. That only left the Ecuadorian
fighter a few weeks to shed an incredible amount of weight. In case you forgot, Morales is one of the biggest welterweight fighters on the UFC roster today. Getting down to 170 pounds if never an easy feat for the 27-year-old.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Morales was staring down a ridiculous 23-pound weight cut. For a full camp that isn’t a huge deal, but to get that amount of weight off in one week is asking a lot. Surprisingly, Morales hit the scale on Friday at 170 pounds to lock up his backup spot. So if anything happens to either Islam Makhachev or Ian Machado Garry between now and Saturday night then Morales will step into the main event title fight.
After UFC 330’s early morning weigh ins were over Morales took to social media and revealed that he cut a total of nearly 60 pounds to hit the welterweight benchmark. This includes the 23 pounds he dropped over the past few days and an additional 38 pounds he cut leading into fight week.
Check it out below:
It’s quite incredible, but Morales should be getting more than compensated for flying out to Philly and giving UFC matchmakers a solid backup plan. Hopefully they don’t need him.
For much more on this weekend’s UFC 330 event click here.
