Athletes
Joseph Morales | Just About Back Where He Belongs
UFC Alum Discusses Long Road To TUF 33 Finale Clash On Saturday Night In Chicago
Joseph Morales didn’t necessarily head into Season 33 of The Ultimate Fighter expecting to be the first overall selection, but as the lone contestant with previous UFC experience, he would have been an obvious choice.
And when fellow Northern California resident Daniel Cormier landed the first pick, the Fresno-born, Sacramento-based flyweight thought there was a pretty good chance the former two-division champion would call his name first.
Cormier instead tabbed LFA champ Eduardo “Chapolin” Henrique as his initial pick, allowing Chael Sonnen to quickly scoop up Morales as the first member of “Team Bad Guy,” sending the 30-year-old into the competition with a slight chip on his shoulder.
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“Yeah, a little bit,” laughed Morales when asked if being picked 1B instead of 1A irked him at all ahead of his return to the Octagon this weekend against Team Cormier’s Alibi Idiris in the TUF 33 flyweight tournament finale. “It rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. I thought “DC” was gonna pick me, being from Northern California.”
When asked it if may have been a rivalry thing — Cormier trained at San Jose’s American Kickboxing Academy, while Morales has been a fixture at Team Alpha Male —Morales said, “If it wasn’t, now it is!” Before letting out another laugh and admitting there was some good-natured trash talk between himself and the coach of the opposing squad throughout the series.
Even more important than taking verbal jabs at Cormier, Morales bested his first pick in the very first fight of the season, raising his hand to face “Chapolin” and submitting him in the opening round to establish himself as the early favorite to run the table and claim another opportunity to compete on the biggest stage in the sport.
That second chance in the UFC is something Morales has been after since he was first released by the promotion, but he wasn’t necessarily sure would ever materialize.
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“My first stint in the UFC, I feel like I was ‘just a fighter,’ whereas now everything else is growing with me,” began the 12-2 standout, who earned a victory and a Performance of the Night bonus in his promotional debut before dropping consecutive contests to future champ Deiveson Figueiredo and TUF alum Eric Shelton to close it out his first stint on the roster. “Honestly, I don’t feel like I need fighting now — I just want to do this, I want to accomplish this to be able to show my kids that even through the hard times, you can still reach your goals, achieve your dreams; just because you have a setback doesn't mean the world is ending.
“I had a couple injuries and layoffs,” he said of his post-UFC years, where he’s gone 3-0, but endured some extended stretches without fights, leading him to question himself and his place in this sport. “I had a shoulder surgery right after I got cut that put me out for two years. It was a hard time because you feel like, I’ve been doing this for a long time, since I was a kid, so it kind of takes over you. When you’re not fighting, you’re like, ‘What am I supposed to do? Who am I supposed to be?’
“Trying to figure that out at such a young age (was tough), but I had my family at the time, too, so that helped me get through everything. I didn’t know if I was going to fight, so being able to go on that three-fight win streak was big, but then I had to deal with another injury, and it leaves you looking at it from the outside in, wondering, ‘Am I really that far away?’
“To get that call to be on The Ultimate Fighter, I just knew I had to take that opportunity and go with it.”
While he admitted that not getting picked first overall by his fellow NorCal native did sit strange, Morales looked at his time in the house and spot in the competition more as a chance to prove to himself that his belief that he wasn’t too far away from once again hanging with the best in the world wasn’t too far off.
“I didn’t really go in with the mentality of ‘I’m gonna be the No.1 pick’ or ‘I’m gonna be this; I’m gonna be that,’” began Morales, who earned a hard-fought win over Imanol Rodriguez in the semifinals to punch his ticket to this weekend’s clash with Idiris. “I just went in and was like, ‘I’m a dark horse.’
“I had a year layoff before I went on TUF and you’ve got these young, up-and-coming guys that haven’t been in the UFC yet, they’re the favorites, they’ve been active in the sport.
“Being able to come in with that underdog mentality and be able to prove — not to anyone else, but to prove to myself that I am the best flyweight here, and I’m gonna go win this contract for me, for my family, my team, my students back home that I coach, everyone that has supported me through this journey means a lot.
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“This contract means a lot because it’s the next step and achieving that UFC championship.”
Though he wasn’t leaning on his previous UFC experience heading into the house, Morales did acknowledge that having navigated fight week three times himself and plenty of other times while cornering teammates does give him a bit of an advantage heading into this fight with Idiris, the 10-0 Kazakh standout who is getting his first taste of what it’s like to compete at this level.
“I feel like the biggest thing for me is that you separate the emotion from the experience,” said Morales, who carries a 12-2 record into UFC 319 in Chicago. “You enjoy fight week and be a part of the experience instead of ‘Oh man! I’m here! I did it!’
“I think the realization for me is that I have never been that far away from where I’m at right now. I was supposed to be here, and I haven’t been that far away, and this solidifies it.
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“I do think the experience is going to help, especially having done those big walks, those big fights; having the crowd cheer for you, boo you,” he added. “It doesn’t make a difference for me. I’m just gonna go out there and handle business.”
Morales is quick to sing the praises of Idiris, who earned a unanimous decision win over Furkatbek Yokubov in the quarterfinals before stopping Roybert Echeverria in the semis to punch his ticket to Saturday’s finale at United Center, noting that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to earn a victory, even if that means coloring outside of the lines a little.
That said, as much as he believes his experience competing at this level will play a factor in the outcome of this weekend’s clash, it’s his skills and technique that Morales feels will be the biggest difference maker.
“I’m prepared for everything and ready to go in there and be the MMA fighter I am,” he said when asked about the matchup and how it plays out. “Not to overlook him or anything, but I feel like my technique is way better, my skill is way better, and I want to be able to expose that.”
Should that come to pass and Morales earns his way back to the UFC roster, expect an outpouring of emotions from the humble family man, who admitted that his celebration on Saturday night would encompass his victories inside the house, as well.
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“I feel like I’m finally gonna be able to celebrate the last two fights after I win this one,” he said with a smile, allowing himself to think ahead to a successful night for a moment. “I haven’t been able to celebrate those two fights because it’s like, ‘I’m not done; I haven’t gotten to where I want to be.’
“This contract is finally going to solidify that and to be able to celebrate the accomplishment of getting back to the UFC, but then it’s right back to work,” he added. “Then it’s time to fight some of these bigger guys, these up-and-comers and work my way through the ranks to get that title shot.”
UFC 319: Du Plessis vs Chimaev took place live from United Center in Chicago, Illinois on August 16, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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