Vince
Morales (16-9) is working among the best bantamweights in the
world leading up to his fight against Raul Rosas
Jr. (10-1).
Morales will be looking for his fourth
UFC win as he takes on Rosas Jr. at UFC
Mexico City at the Arena CDMX on Saturday. “Vandetta” is
currently training in Las Vegas under the tutelage of John Wood at
Syndicate MMA, which is also home to current bantamweight champ
Merab
Dvalishvili. While former champ Aljamain
Sterling also shows up intermittently, Morales’ cousin, UFC
bantamweight veteran Ricky
Simon, will be cornering him in his upcoming fight. Morales
believes he is getting better by the day in the star-studded camp
and plans to exhibit that come fight night.
“Literally, I got the bantamweight champion in the room,” Morales
told Home of Fight. “I’m getting countless rounds on him. Aljo
comes through, I’m getting rounds on him. I got my cousin Ricky Simon
that came through, he’s going out there with me as part of the
corner. I literally train with the best dudes in the world on a
pretty consistent basis, like day in day out. So I’m not just
learning from the fights, I’m learning in the room and I’m still
getting better.”
Morales believes the 20-year-old Rosas Jr. is still at a place
where he feels invincible and will come out with aggression.
Morales plans to withstand the initial storm from “El Nino
Problema” and then turn the tables to show why he’s a veteran in
the sport.
“I think mentally where he’s at, he’s still in that ‘I’m gonna get
you, nothing can hurt me’ sort of phase as a fighter,” Morales
said. “I think he’s gonna bring that, he’s gonna start to fight
hard. And I think I break that by still being around when I have
taken his best stuff. And then start putting the pace back on him
and now all of a sudden he doesn’t know what to do… I’m a vet, I
plan to show that.”
Morales has dropped unanimous decisions in his last two UFC outings
after going 3-5 during his first promotional stint from 2018 to
2022. Meanwhile, Rosas Jr. is 4-1 in the UFC and riding a
three-fight winning streak.