Michael Morales Collides With Jake Matthews at UFC Fight Night 232 in November

Per sources: Michael Morales vs. Jake Matthews set for Nov 18th UFC event

Vía @ESPNDeportes pic.twitter.com/NdjAUtTkED

— Carlos Contreras Legaspi 🦁 (@CCLegaspi) September 22, 2023

Some days, the Ultimate Fighting Championship decides to open the gates and let loose a number of new matchups into the wild all at once.

Per ESPN Deportes, the UFC’s Spanish-language broadcast partner, an intriguing welterweight pairing between Michael Morales (15-0) and Jake Matthews (19-6) has come together. This fight with potential rankings implications will be held on Nov. 18 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, as part of UFC Fight Night 232.

The 23-year-old Morales out of Entram Gym burst onto the scene when he staged the upset and topped Nikolay Veretennikov on the scorecards at Dana White's Contender Series. This contract-winning victory put the youngster in the Octagon, where he celebrated this by smashing Trevin Giles and Adam Fugitt in 2022. The lone trip to the cage this year came against Max Griffin, and the Ecuadorian remained undefeated by overcoming “Pain.”

Over the last few years, veteran Matthews has alternated wins and losses. While in 2020, he maintained a three-fight win streak, a submission loss to Sean Brady in his only appearance in 2021 put him out for a while. Over a year later, “The Celtic Kid” righted the ship by laying waste to Andre Fialho, only for Matthew Semelsberger to defeat him six months later. In July, the Aussie tapped out Darrius Flowers, in what was his 18th appearance for the organization while just 28 years old.

UFC Fight Night 232 will play out at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Nov. 18. Sitting atop the billing is a middleweight delight as finishers Brendan Allen and Paul Craig come to blows. The remainder of the lineup is not currently official, although it is expected that a strawweight clash between Amanda Ribas and Luana Pinheiro will be placed high on the card.