Tapology Adds 2017 Loss to Morales' MMA Record

UFC welterweight contender Michael Morales, long regarded as undefeated with a 19-0 professional record, saw that status challenged this week when recordkeeping site Tapology updated his ledger to include an early-career loss, prompting a sharp rebuke from the fighter himself.

Tapology announced the change on Tuesday via a post on X, formerly Twitter, stating that researchers had uncovered footage from the second season of Ultima Pelea, an Ecuadorian reality competition series modeled after The Ultimate Fighter. The bouts, which Morales entered as a 17-year-old in 2017, included a qualification win and a quarterfinal defeat to Ricardo Centeno. Tapology classified both as professional mixed martial arts contests, citing the event's rules and structure, which featured two five-minute rounds and prohibited elbows, as meeting their criteria for pro-level fights. The loss, originally announced as a knockout, was reclassified by Tapology as a triangle choke submission after Centeno trapped Morales and landed follow-up strikes until the referee intervened.

The update brought Morales' overall record to 20-1 on Tapology's database. Officials from the site emphasized that while U.S.-based...