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Vince Morales Wants To Reintroduce Himself
In His Second UFC Stint, Vince Morales Wants To Show Off His Growth At UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs Saint Denis
Social media can be a good or bad thing; there’s really no middle ground. But when Vince Morales started putting together what is currently a five-fight winning streak after being released from the UFC in early 2023, the divisive thing known as MMA Twitter united to call for his return to the Octagon as soon as possible.
“I'm glad somebody else noticed that,” Morales laughs. “The people who did support me already just really kept supporting me, but it seems like it's happening more and more. And man, that feels pretty good. But, in my mind, that's kind of what I was looking for. So I stayed focused on the goal of just getting better and getting in there and fighting. And in my heart of hearts, I knew something good was going to come from it.”
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That something good was a call from the UFC to take on a short notice assignment this Saturday in Paris against Taylor Lapilus. Not surprisingly, he accepted, eager to get back to business in the perennially stacked bantamweight division. It’s been nearly two years since he had those three letters on his gloves, but that doesn’t really matter now. He’s here and that’s all that counts.
“It really doesn't seem that long ago that I was in there,” said Morales, whose last UFC appearance was decision loss to Miles Johns in November of 2022. “I'm stoked that this one's going to be in front of a crowd. I think that's only going to help me bring out more energy.”
Correct, but Morales doesn’t point out that he will be fighting a Frenchman in France, which means that energy from the fans will likely be against him, and not for him. But don’t let the snarky New Yorker bring him down; the Las Vegas-based Oregonian is all good vibes these days.
Inside The UFC Paris Main Event Between Moicano & Saint Denis
“That's just an opportunity to win over some new fans,” he said. “I'm not a stranger to enemy territory. I think half my fights in the UFC were in enemy territory; a bunch of my fights prior to the UFC were in enemy territory, and My last few fights, I fought Yuki Motoya in Japan and I fought Hunter Azure In Phoenix, so there's more enemy territory ones.”
In other words, the 33-year-old packs a black hat into his suitcase for every business trip, but all kidding aside, it’s pretty impossible to dislike Morales, who was a class act during his run in the UFC and after he got cut. There were no hard feelings or social media rants. Maybe that’s why everyone wanted to see him back after his first 3-5 stint in the promotion. And while some take a release with the attitude of “I’ll show ‘em,” Morales took a different tact.
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“It wasn't so much about showing them as much as it was showing myself,” he said. “I refused to be a victim to anything that's within my control. So I just tried to look at it like that and I'm like, ‘Okay, you're going to have to get out of your own way if you really want to do this.’ Getting cut from the UFC will make you think sometimes if you really want to do this, you're going to have to double down on some things. And that's what I feel like I've done. And I've been talking to Coach (John) Wood, who's been such a great help. He literally helped me climb me out of this hole. And here we are. I think this is just a start. Yeah, it's been a lot of self-reflection and not just skill growth, but personal growth, as well, which to me, that's what fighting is all about.”
Since the Johns fight, Morales has won five straight, with four of those victories ending before the final horn. And with wins over UFC vets Teruto Ishihara and Azure, as well as Motoya for the RIZIN promotion, Morales hasn’t been cherry picking regional journeymen to pad his record. He’s been fighting real opposition, and they’ve got him ready for more of the same in the big show.
But don’t call this a comeback…it’s a new start for “Vandetta.”
“I think for everybody else it comes off as a bit of a ‘Vince's back’ sort of thing, but, for me, I'm trying to think of it like, I'm here now and it's a whole new introduction.”
UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs Saint Denis took place live from Accor Arena in Paris, France on September 28, 2024. 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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