Motoya vs Morales

Who won Motoya vs Morales?

Vince Morales beat Yuki Motoya by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of RIZIN 45, on Sunday 31st December 2023 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Vince Morales.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Motoya vs Morales division, which meant the weight limit was pounds (0 stone or 0 KG).

Motoya vs Morales stats

Yuki Motoya stepped into the octagon with a record of 33 wins, 10 losses and 0 draws, 7 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 12 by submission.

Vince Morales made his way to the cage with a record of 11 wins, 7 losses and 0 draws, 6 of those wins coming by knock out and 2 by submission.

Vince Morales will be making their debut in Rizin.

Yuki Motoya's Rizin record stood at 10-6-0.

The stats suggested Morales had a massive power advantage over Motoya, boasting a 55% knock out percentage over Motoya's 21%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Motoya had an advantage over Morales, with a 36% submission rate over Morales' 18%.

Yuki Motoya was the older man by 1 year, at 34 years old.

Motoya was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 25 more fights, and made his debut in 2010, 5 years and 2 months earlier than Morales, whose first professional fight was in 2015. He had fought 49 more professional rounds, 94 to Morales' 45.

Motoya vs Morales form

Morales had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight before this contest, he had lost to Miles Johns at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Spivak on 19th November 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Apex, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had been beaten by Jonathan Martinez at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Vieira on 21st May 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had won against Louis Smolka at UFC Fight Night on 4th December 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had beaten Drako Rodriguez at UFC 265 on 7th August 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Toyota Center, Houston.

He had been defeated by Yadong Song at UFC Fight Night 141 on 24th November 2018 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Cadillac Arena, Beijing, China.

Activity check

Morales' last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 5 months and 4 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year and 1 month. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Motoya vs Morales?

Yuki Motoya was a 4/6 (-150) favourite going into the contest, while Vince Morales made his way into the ring at 6/5 (+120) with oddsmakers.