Undefeated 19-0 UFC star revealed as backup fighter for Islam Makhachev vs Ian Machado Garry

Michael Morales has said he’ll weigh in as the backup fighter for Islam Makhachev’s welterweight title defence against Ian Machado Garry.

Two-division champion Makhachev defends the belt for the first time against Ireland’s Machado Garry in the main event of UFC 330 on August 15.

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Garry secured his title shot by comfortably outpointing Belal Muhammad at UFC Qatar last November, seven months after the Irishman got the better of welterweight contender Carlos Prates.

Makhachev, meanwhile, won the welterweight crown at UFC 322 against Jack Della Maddalena, having vacated the UFC lightweight title to move up to the 170lbs division.

On the same card as Makhachev’s historic main event win over ‘JDM,’ another welterweight star, Michael Morales, caught the headlines by securing his third Performance of the Night (POTN)-winning bonus.

Morales knocked out fellow top-ranked welterweight Sean Brady, who was fresh off a dominant win over former champion Leon Edwards, in three minutes 27 seconds to cement his status as a top contender at 170lbs.

It was the seventh win of Morales’ UFC stint and the 19th of his undefeated professional career.

And it seems like the 27-year-old has been rightfully rewarded for his labour, as, speaking to ESPN Deportes’ Carlos Contreras Gelaspi, Morales revealed he’ll be up for a title shot if Makhachev or Machado Garry get injured.

“Either I’m going to be a replacement in this fight between Islam and Ian Garry, or I’ll fight one more time against whomever,” Morales said, translated from Spanish.

“They’re saying Prates, others are saying another fighter in the same division, but I said whatever they want.

“But I’m still going to make weight for August 15. I’m still going to show up to make weight and, well, with my luck, if God allows it and they let me fight that day, we’ll be there fighting for the title.

“But whatever happens, happens.”

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Prates also poised

Prates may feel hard done by that he’s not serving as the backup fighter for UFC 330’s main event.

After all, the Brazilian is ranked above both Morales and Machado Garry in the UFC’s new Meta rankings, despite losing to the latter only 14 months ago.

Prates, to his credit, has been better than ever before following his defeat to Machado Garry, bagging, just like Morales, three POTN-winning bonuses in a row.

‘The Nightmare’ stopped Geoff Neal with an insane spinning back elbow before finishing former champions Edwards and Della Maddalena in his last two outings.

Prates became the first man to knock out Edwards in the UFC, and all seven of his victories in Dana White‘s promotion have received a POTN bonus.

An ideal world for the UFC would be Prates fighting Morales to solidify the No. 1 contender to whoever wins between Makhachev and Machado Garry.

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However, either man may think that if they wait it out, their title shot will come calling.