Athletes
Vince Morales Wants To Show What He's Capable Of
Bantamweight Vince Morales Challenges Miles Johns At UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Spivac
The fight life isn’t an easy one, so when you go onto social media and see your favorite fighters trying to live it up whenever they get a free moment, it’s understandable.
Vince Morales is not that guy, and when asked if he tries to get away from the sport every now and again, he doesn’t hesitate in his response.
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“It's pretty close to 24 hours a day,” he laughs. “That's the way my mind works. Once I have a goal set in mind and I just want to improve so much that I become obsessed with it. I'm lying in bed late at night, and I'll wake up thinking about training or a fight or past fights, or whatever it may be.”
Morales doesn’t complain about his lot in life, especially at this point in a promising career that will see him fighting in the UFC Octagon for the eighth time this Saturday against Miles Johns. But yeah, he wouldn’t mind a little mental break every now and again, something he’s discussed with his cousin, bantamweight contender Ricky Simon.
“We're trying to find little ways to not forcefully disconnect, but disconnect our minds from being so overwhelmed in the sport,” he said. “I think my body stays tensed up and I can't even recover properly sometimes, and I think it's because I'm constantly thinking about it. So, for me, lately, a little more video games and work around the house has been helping a lot.”
There’s also a YouTube podcast with Simon, aptly entitled “Just Cuz,” and slowly but surely, Morales is rounding out his life with non-fight related endeavors.
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Well, somewhat, as there is business to be dealt with after a May decision loss to surging Jonathan Martinez snapped a two-fight losing streak and forced him to get down to what caused the defeat.
“I just kinda froze up a little bit,” Morales said. “The one thing that we gameplanned was not hanging out along the edge, letting Martinez dictate range. And that means punching in combinations, punching while moving forward. The first two rounds, I didn't do that. I was looking for a clean shot. I think my mind was stuck on cracking him hard and knocking him out, but it's not gonna work with somebody who controls range so good. Come the third round, I finally said screw it and started marching forward, and all of a sudden, I started having a lot more success, which is exactly what we gameplanned, but it went out the window for whatever reason.”
Highlight: Vince Morales Stops Louis Smolka In The First Round | UFC Fight Night: Font vs Aldo
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Highlight: Vince Morales Stops Louis Smolka In The First Round | UFC Fight Night: Font vs Aldo
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It's the beauty of the sport for those watching it, and the curse for those participating in it. All the plans that work so well in the gym can come apart once the punches start flying on fight night. And it’s even worse in MMA, because there are so many ways to win and lose. One wrong move can be the deciding factor, making muscle memory a tough thing to achieve.
“When it becomes natural is an interesting point because in the gym, things can be natural on a regular basis,” Syndicate MMA’s Morales said. “In the gym, I shoot on a regular basis, I'm always working some ground stuff, and in fights, in the UFC especially, they've yet to see anything I have to offer on the ground, which, looking at it right now, is fairly frustrating.”
That’s because the 32-year-old knows that he’s better than his 3-4 UFC record would indicate, but some only look at the record and that’s it. Maybe that’s why Morales is so obsessed with the sport, because he wants the world to see what he knows he can do. Lightweight veteran Joe Lauzon once told me that such a desire to write the wrongs of a previous fight made training camps after a loss the best ones. Morales doesn’t exactly agree.
“I wouldn't say they're better; I think they're a little worse,” he laughs. “I try not to let myself fall into that mindset, but it's very clear when you're coming off a loss what the issues are, so I guess it's a little easier to focus on what needs to be improved.”
And having addressed those issues, he gets a chance to put it all in action on Saturday. And on Sunday, he gets to relax and enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with his family.
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Or does he?
Morales laughs, recalling when someone asked him recently why he’s so happy all the time.
“I think I just like everything. I like the fact that I'm sore and hurting because I'm working so hard on something I care so much about. I like the fact that I come home and it's still on my mind. I like the fact that I can dedicate myself, not just in the gym but out of the gym, to being a better martial artist and better at life. I enjoy everything, even the crappy stuff.”
UFC Fight Night: Nzechukwu vs Cutelaba took place live from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 19, 2022. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
