Vince Morales Looks to Defeat Raul Rosas Jr. with Help From Star-Studded Camp

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.