Michael Morales, along with several others, slammed Ian Garry following his win over Neil Magny at UFC on ESPN 62.
Morales was looking to make his biggest step up to date against Magny, widely regarded as the guardian of the welterweight division. The Ecuadorian dropped Magny with a spinning elbow and then finished him off with a vicious ground-and-pound with under 30 seconds left in the first round. Morales maintained his unbeaten record and also earned a $50,000 bonus for “Performance of the Night.”
Morales then criticized veterans Michael Chiesa and Vicente Luque, but his criticism of Ghaly was the most prominent.
“Whenever there’s a fight and they want me to fight, I’ll be ready,” Morales said at the post-fight media gathering. “I’m always ready to fight. I’d love to fight in December, but as far as names go, I think there are a few names that have been mentioned.
[Vicente] Luque is a guy who has a chance to fight. Michael Chiesa is here, so that’s good. Ian Garry is also being called up, but I don’t know where he is.”
A win over Magny would see Morales catapult himself into the top 15 in the welterweight division. The unbeaten 25-year-old Morales believes he can become UFC champion in two years, which has long been his goal.
“Maybe I’ll be in the top 10 or top five by the end of the year,” Morales said, “I don’t even know where they’re going to put me after this win, so I don’t know… I’ve always said I want to be champion by 27. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m 25. I never thought I’d get into the UFC so soon. I was 21. So maybe I’ll be in the top five or top 10 by the end of the year.”
