Sometimes, taking no action at all is the best course of
action.
The success of “The Ultimate Fighter” has long been credited as the
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s gateway into
the mainstream. Beyond cultivating a new generation of fighters and
fans, the series inspired production companies around the world to
create their own adaptations of the mixed martial arts reality
television format. Eleven years after first season of TUF first
aired, a similar concept emerged in Quito, Ecuador, with the launch
of a new MMA reality series titled “Ultima Pelea.”
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“Ultima Pelea” aired for four seasons on Ecuadorian television
network CNT Sports. The program featured young, up-and-coming
Ecuadorian mixed martial artists competing in exhibition bouts
contested over two five-minute rounds. Among the participants in
the second and fourth seasons was Michael
Morales, who would later rise to prominence as a top-ranked UFC
welterweight title contender. At the time of filming the second
season, Morales was just 17 years old and had no prior professional
MMA experience.
During that season, Morales competed twice. His first bout came
against Christian Arroyo, who was also making his mixed martial
arts debut, in the second episode. Morales later faced Ricardo
Centeno in the 10th episode; Centeno had already made his
professional debut and entered the bout with a record of 1–5.
All bouts leading up to the season finals were filmed in local gyms
with limited attendance, consisting primarily of fellow competitors
and a production crew mirroring the intimate setting seen in “The
Ultimate Fighter.” In his first appearance, Morales secured a
takedown and earned a stoppage victory over Arroyo via strikes from
the mount in the second round. In his second bout, Morales was
snared by the more experienced Centeno in a deep triangle choke in
the first round. Footage from these tapings has been publicly
available on YouTube since 2018.
However, due to the exhibition nature of the bouts, they were never
recorded by any major MMA recordkeeping platforms. In 2022, as
Morales ascended the UFC welterweight rankings, Sherdog contacted
the show’s producers, Nacho Lorduguin and Eduardo Filippini, to
verify the status of the bouts. Given that the contests were always
designated as exhibitions, and that we had not received complete
tournament results at the time, they were omitted by Sherdog Fight
Finder.
On Tuesday, combat sports database Tapology announced on social media that it had identified the “Ultima Pelea”
bouts and elected to classify them as professional contests. This
decision altered Morales’ record from 19–0 to 20–1, a change that
immediately drew significant attention and controversy throughout
the MMA community. Following Tapology’s decision, Morales was the
first to respond, putting out a short but fiery Instagram
post with the caption: “I’m going to punch injustice in the face,”
while cursing out the recordkeeper.
In response to the reaction, Sherdog reached out the producers of
“Ultima Pelea,” who issued the following statement:
“Tapology recorded as professional two of the exhibition bouts that
Michael Morales competed in on ‘Ultima Pelea: El Reality.’ These
bouts were registered without consulting or verifying with us, the
producers of the show. ‘Ultima Pelea’ was a TUF-style reality show
produced in Ecuador from 2016 to 2019. Over 50 Ecuadorian fighters,
representing some of the best of their generation, participated.
All bouts on the show were strictly exhibition contests contested
over two five-minute rounds. This was established and agreed upon
from day one and was never disputed.
“We at ‘Ultima Pelea’ have never officially recorded wins or losses
for Michael Morales, nor for any other participant. If Tapology
were to classify these exhibition bouts as professional, an entire
generation of Ecuadorian mixed martial artists would see their
records drastically altered. Arbitrarily selecting a single season
involving a highly regarded fighter like Michael Morales and
documenting it inaccurately is potentially harmful to his career.
When individuals achieve great success, it often provokes envy and
attempts to create obstacles in their path. This appears to be the
case here.”
Following widespread criticism from fans and industry observers,
Tapology subsequently reversed its decision a day later. The platform
acknowledged that its more recent approach to categorizing reality
show bouts as professional did not reflect its stance at the time
the “Ultima Pelea” bouts took place. Morales’ record was reinstated
to 19–0, with the bouts from “Ultima Pelea” properly classified as
exhibitions.
It remains crucial to reassert why the matches were considered
exhibitions initially. While Sherdog Fight Finder listed reasons
for this classification in our 2023 piece titled “Taste of India,” which addressed an unbeaten
prospect and his seemingly manipulated record, we will restate
them. It is not the number of rounds, as many international
organizations run 2×5 matches regularly. It has nothing to do with
the lack of elbow strikes at “Ultima Pelea,” as promotions
occasionally add that stipulation but are still considered pro.
Rather, it is the tape-delayed nature of the bouts, where the
organization runs its reality show fights with no third-party
regulators witnessing the proceedings. That league then hides its
results until air date—the publication date on YouTube of the
“Ultima Pelea” episodes is not the same as when they were
recorded—which is what violates rules adopted by Sherdog Fight
Finder over two decades ago for all tape-delayed events. As a note,
even though the 15th season of TUF held live matches, the Nevada
State Athletic Commission deemed them the same status as any other
TUF bout. We hold this same standard to all pre-recorded shows, be
it TUF, M-1 Reality, ALF Reality, Qadya MO Show, Hype Reality,
African Knockout and beyond.
Mixed martial arts remain a developing sport across much of South
America. Many countries in the region lack formal athletic
commissions or consistent regulatory oversight, resulting in
inconsistencies in recordkeeping. Most fighters have competed
professionally for years without ever interacting with entities
like Sherdog Fight Finder. Despite these challenges, Sherdog
remains committed to maintaining the most accurate and reliable MMA
database possible, continuing its efforts to document the sport
with diligence and integrity.