Islam Makhachev recently made a pointed comment about Michael Morales while referencing Morales’ 2017 submission loss.
For context, the record website Tapology had tampered with Morales’ undefeated record earlier this month. The page added one loss and one win from the start of his career to its list of professional MMA fights. Of these two fights, one was Morales’ loss to Ricardo Centeno in the quarterfinals of the second season of the Ecuadorian league Ultima Pelea in 2017.
However, Tapology later returned Michael Morales’ pro-MMA record to a clean 19-0, as both the win and loss in the Ultima Pelea competition are now officially recognized as exhibition fights.
While referring to Morales’ 2017 loss, Islam Makhachev recently made a joke about the 26-year-old. The Russian fighter told Match TV that Morales “needs to be choked again.”
“Morales wasn’t undefeated a few days ago, but today he’s undefeated again. I don’t know how they removed it. I saw the cage fight – he got strangled, and then they announced it was an exhibition match. Well, he has to be strangled again.”
Watch Islam Makhachev’s comments below:
Michael Morales fires back at Islam Makhachev
Michael Morales was quick to respond to Islam Makhachev’s comments above. In response, Morales referenced Makhachev’s only loss in MMA, which was a knockout loss against Adriano Martins in 2015. The undefeated Ecuadorian fighter joked:
“Makhachev has already been knocked out once, time to knock him out again.” [Translated from Spanish]
Check out Michael Morales’ comments below:
Morales and Makhachev were rumored to fight in January. However, both sides refused the fight. The newly minted 170-pound champion did not want to fight because he believed he had less time to prepare, having just fought in November. Morales, on the other hand, chose to take a vacation and rest.
Makhachev is expected to make his first defense of his welterweight title after Ramadan 2026, and Morales is interested in fighting the Russian phenom. But in the meantime, he is eager to return to the octagon and has his sights set on Jack Della Maddalena.
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