Matthews vs Morales

Who won Matthews vs Morales?

Michael Morales beat Jake Matthews by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the co-main event of UFC Fight Night – Allen vs Craig, on Saturday 18th November 2023 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The scorecards were announced as 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 in favor of the winner Michael Morales.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Welterweight division, which meant the weight limit was 170 pounds (12.1 stone or 77.1 KG).

Matthews vs Morales stats

Jake Matthews stepped into the octagon with a record of 19 wins, 6 losses and 0 draws, 5 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 8 by submission.

Michael Morales made his way to the cage with an unblemished record of 15 wins, 0 losses, and 0 draws, 11 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

This was Jake Matthews' 20th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2014.

Jake Matthews' UFC record stood at 13-7-0, while Michael Morales' came in at 4-0-0.

The stats suggested Morales had a massive power advantage over Matthews, boasting a 73% knock out percentage over Matthews' 26%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Matthews had a massive advantage over Morales, boasting a 42% submission rate over Morales' 7%.

Jake Matthews was the older man by 4 years, at 29 years old.

Morales had a height advantage of 1 inch over Matthews. That also extended to a 7-inch reach advantage.

Matthews was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 10 more fights, and made his debut in 2012, 4 years and 11 months earlier than Morales, whose first professional fight was in 2017. He had fought 32 more professional rounds, 62 to Morales' 30.

Matthews vs Morales form

Matthews had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges once.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Michael Morales at UFC Fight Night – Allen vs Craig on 18th November 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Apex, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Darrius Flowers at UFC 291 on 29th July 2023 by submission in the 2nd round at Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Matt Semelsberger at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland on 17th December 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Apex, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had beaten Andre Fialho at UFC 275 on 11th June 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore.

He had been defeated by Anthony Rocco Martin at UFC Fight Night 142 on 1st December 2018 by submission in the 3rd round at Adelaide Entertainment Center, Adelaide, South Australia.

Activity check

Matthews' last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 7 months and 23 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 1 month and 16 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

Morales' last 3 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 6 months and 2 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 10 months. In those fights, he fought a total of 7 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.3 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Matthews vs Morales?

Jake Matthews was a 5/2 (+250) underdog going into the contest, while Michael Morales made his way into the ring at 3/10 (-330) with oddsmakers.