Michael Morales Says January Fight Is Not Prates or Garry
Michael Morales says his next UFC fight is already booked for January, and it is not against Carlos Prates or Ian Machado Garry. Speaking at a press conference in Ecuador, the unbeaten welterweight said a December date fell through and that the January bout is the last fight he expects to take before a title shot.
“I already have a fight booked. I was in Vegas talking about it,” Morales said in Spanish. “They had given us a fight for a whole year. We were pushing to see if we could fight in December, but it is not going to happen in December. It is going to be in January, against a very strong opponent.”
He then took the two names the division has spent the fall attaching to him off the table. “It is not Pratt, and it is not Angari,” he said, using the names he uses for Prates and Garry. “Neither one wants to fight.” He added that Garry had supposedly said he was available when Morales was not, that Garry already has a fight booked, and that Garry had wanted to skip an opponent and meet him in December. Morales said that version did not hold.
The January acceptance is the part he treated as done. “We accepted the January fight, which is the last fight I have in order to dispute a title,” he said. “God willing, we win that fight, and then we move on to fight for another title in June, God willing.” He did not name the January opponent, the city, or the event.
That timeline sits on top of a year Morales has already spent waiting. He is 19-0 as a professional and 7-0 in the UFC, with first-round finishes of Neil Magny, Gilbert Burns, and Sean Brady. The Brady stoppage, at UFC 322 in November 2025, is still his most recent bout. He was the official backup for the welterweight title fight at UFC 330 in August and made weight in Philadelphia in case Islam Makhachev or Garry fell out. Neither did. Makhachev kept the belt by unanimous decision.
After that night, Morales and Garry traded public messages about fighting each other, including a November window Garry floated. Morales had also been mentioned alongside Prates as a possible next challenger for Makhachev, who has said he wants to fight again before Ramadan.
The press conference cuts across both of those versions. Morales said the December attempt died, Garry has his own booking, and the fight he accepted is a January eliminator against someone else.
Rankings outlets have had him as high as No. 2 and No. 3 at 170 pounds while he sat out. A win in January, on his own account, is what he believes puts him in a June title fight. A loss would reset a contender who has not been beaten and has not fought in more than a year. He did not say the UFC has promised the June date. He said the January bout is the last step he has before he can dispute a title, and that the belt fight is the hope if he wins.
The opponent is the missing piece. Morales called the January fighter very strong and ruled out the two men fans have spent the last month booking for him. Until the UFC posts the matchup, the news is the date and the exclusions. January is the fight he says is signed. June is the one he says comes only if that fight goes his way.
