Fighting professionally since he was just 18 years old, Morales had 11 fights under his belt before making the walk in the UFC APEX for his Dana White’s Contender Series bout. Along the way, he tallied 10 finishes and saw a third round just once.
And since debuting in the UFC, Morales has fought a steady diet of experienced veterans who know how to push and break an unexperienced fighter. At the time Morales faced them, his first five UFC opponents combined for 124 total professional fights. In Burns, he will stand across from a man who has more UFC fights (23) than Morales has in his career, but Morales knows that means very little once they step into the Octagon.
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“Ever since I started fighting, I was facing veterans of the sport, people who were older than me,” Morales said. “I’ve been working hard because I know that everyone wants to rip my head off, so I know I have a target on my back. I’m training harder because of that.”
Although Morales’ undefeated record is one of the standout things about him on paper, the young Ecuadorian doesn’t feel all that precious about protecting it. Instead, he is more focused on drinking in the moments as they come, collecting stories he hopes to one day tell his grandkids. The unblemished record is, in his eyes, “something that can be undone” whereas all that he experiences is something nobody can take away.
