{"id":36507,"date":"2026-01-08T18:14:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T18:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Michael-Morales-Still-Undefeated-as-a-Professional-199678"},"modified":"2026-01-08T18:14:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T18:14:47","slug":"michael-morales-still-undefeated-as-a-professional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/michael-morales-still-undefeated-as-a-professional\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Morales: Still Undefeated as a Professional"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sometimes, taking no action at all is the best course of
\naction.<\/p>\n

The success of \u201cThe Ultimate Fighter\u201d has long been credited as the
\nUltimate Fighting Championship<\/a>\u2019s gateway into
\nthe mainstream. Beyond cultivating a new generation of fighters and
\nfans, the series inspired production companies around the world to
\ncreate their own adaptations of the mixed martial arts reality
\ntelevision format. Eleven years after first season of TUF first
\naired, a similar concept emerged in Quito, Ecuador, with the launch
\nof a new MMA reality series titled \u201cUltima Pelea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cUltima Pelea\u201d aired for four seasons on Ecuadorian television
\nnetwork CNT Sports. The program featured young, up-and-coming
\nEcuadorian mixed martial artists competing in exhibition bouts
\ncontested over two five-minute rounds. Among the participants in
\nthe second and fourth seasons was Michael
\nMorales<\/a>, who would later rise to prominence as a top-ranked UFC
\nwelterweight title contender. At the time of filming the second
\nseason, Morales was just 17 years old and had no prior professional
\nMMA experience.<\/p>\n

During that season, Morales competed twice. His first bout came
\nagainst Christian Arroyo, who was also making his mixed martial
\narts debut, in the second episode. Morales later faced Ricardo
\nCenteno<\/a> in the 10th episode; Centeno had already made his
\nprofessional debut and entered the bout with a record of 1\u20135.<\/p>\n

All bouts leading up to the season finals were filmed in local gyms
\nwith limited attendance, consisting primarily of fellow competitors
\nand a production crew mirroring the intimate setting seen in \u201cThe
\nUltimate Fighter.\u201d In his first appearance, Morales secured a
\ntakedown and earned a stoppage victory over Arroyo via strikes from
\nthe mount in the second round. In his second bout, Morales was
\nsnared by the more experienced Centeno in a deep triangle choke in
\nthe first round. Footage from these tapings has been publicly
\navailable on YouTube<\/a> since 2018.<\/p>\n

However, due to the exhibition nature of the bouts, they were never
\nrecorded by any major MMA recordkeeping platforms. In 2022, as
\nMorales ascended the UFC welterweight rankings, Sherdog contacted
\nthe show\u2019s producers, Nacho Lorduguin and Eduardo Filippini, to
\nverify the status of the bouts. Given that the contests were always
\ndesignated as exhibitions, and that we had not received complete
\ntournament results at the time, they were omitted by Sherdog Fight
\nFinder.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, combat sports database Tapology announced on social media<\/a> that it had identified the \u201cUltima Pelea\u201d
\nbouts and elected to classify them as professional contests. This
\ndecision altered Morales\u2019 record from 19\u20130 to 20\u20131, a change that
\nimmediately drew significant attention and controversy throughout
\nthe MMA community. Following Tapology\u2019s decision, Morales was the
\nfirst to respond, putting out a short but fiery Instagram<\/a>
\npost with the caption: \u201cI\u2019m going to punch injustice in the face,\u201d
\nwhile cursing out the recordkeeper.<\/p>\n

In response to the reaction, Sherdog reached out the producers of
\n\u201cUltima Pelea,\u201d who issued the following statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cTapology recorded as professional two of the exhibition bouts that
\nMichael Morales competed in on \u2018Ultima Pelea: El Reality.\u2019 These
\nbouts were registered without consulting or verifying with us, the
\nproducers of the show. \u2018Ultima Pelea\u2019 was a TUF-style reality show
\nproduced in Ecuador from 2016 to 2019. Over 50 Ecuadorian fighters,
\nrepresenting some of the best of their generation, participated.
\nAll bouts on the show were strictly exhibition contests contested
\nover two five-minute rounds. This was established and agreed upon
\nfrom day one and was never disputed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe at \u2018Ultima Pelea\u2019 have never officially recorded wins or losses
\nfor Michael Morales, nor for any other participant. If Tapology
\nwere to classify these exhibition bouts as professional, an entire
\ngeneration of Ecuadorian mixed martial artists would see their
\nrecords drastically altered. Arbitrarily selecting a single season
\ninvolving a highly regarded fighter like Michael Morales and
\ndocumenting it inaccurately is potentially harmful to his career.
\nWhen individuals achieve great success, it often provokes envy and
\nattempts to create obstacles in their path. This appears to be the
\ncase here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following widespread criticism from fans and industry observers,
\nTapology subsequently reversed<\/a> its decision a day later. The platform
\nacknowledged that its more recent approach to categorizing reality
\nshow bouts as professional did not reflect its stance at the time
\nthe \u201cUltima Pelea\u201d bouts took place. Morales\u2019 record was reinstated
\nto 19\u20130, with the bouts from \u201cUltima Pelea\u201d properly classified as
\nexhibitions.<\/p>\n

It remains crucial to reassert why the matches were considered
\nexhibitions initially. While Sherdog Fight Finder listed reasons
\nfor this classification in our 2023 piece titled \u201cTaste of India,\u201d<\/a> which addressed an unbeaten
\nprospect and his seemingly manipulated record, we will restate
\nthem. It is not the number of rounds, as many international
\norganizations run 2×5 matches regularly. It has nothing to do with
\nthe lack of elbow strikes at \u201cUltima Pelea,\u201d as promotions
\noccasionally add that stipulation but are still considered pro.<\/p>\n

Rather, it is the tape-delayed nature of the bouts, where the
\norganization runs its reality show fights with no third-party
\nregulators witnessing the proceedings. That league then hides its
\nresults until air date\u2014the publication date on YouTube of the
\n\u201cUltima Pelea\u201d episodes is not the same as when they were
\nrecorded\u2014which is what violates rules adopted by Sherdog Fight
\nFinder over two decades ago for all tape-delayed events. As a note,
\neven though the 15th season of TUF held live matches, the Nevada
\nState Athletic Commission deemed them the same status as any other
\nTUF bout. We hold this same standard to all pre-recorded shows, be
\nit TUF, M-1 Reality, ALF Reality, Qadya MO Show, Hype Reality,
\nAfrican Knockout and beyond.<\/p>\n

Mixed martial arts remain a developing sport across much of South
\nAmerica. Many countries in the region lack formal athletic
\ncommissions or consistent regulatory oversight, resulting in
\ninconsistencies in recordkeeping. Most fighters have competed
\nprofessionally for years without ever interacting with entities
\nlike Sherdog Fight Finder. Despite these challenges, Sherdog
\nremains committed to maintaining the most accurate and reliable MMA
\ndatabase possible, continuing its efforts to document the sport
\nwith diligence and integrity.<\/p>\n