It didn’t come easy but Michael Morales kept his undefeated record in tact as he dispatched Trevin Giles with an impressive finish to kick off the UFC 270 main card on pay-per-view.
The 22-year-old Contender Series veteran ate a hard shot early but then he came storming back as he leveled Giles with a huge punch as he pushed forward trying to land his own combination. As soon as Giles hit the floor, Morales was all over him with a flurry of punches until the referee had no choice but to stop the fight.
The end came at 4:06 in the first round.
“We’ve worked a lot. That’s what we got [with the knockout],” Morales said afterwards. “For all the trust and the work, thank you very much.”
OH. MY. GOOOOOOOODNESSSSS!!!!!!
[ @MichaelMMA21 | #UFC270 ] pic.twitter.com/opi0uE3vJ3— UFC (@ufc) January 23, 2022
In his first fight at welterweight in the octagon, it was Giles who wasted no time going on the attack after he cracked Morales with a punch during an early exchange that appeared to rattle the UFC newcomer. Morales absorbed the blow before ending up on the ground where Giles was attempting to lock up an arm triangle choke.
Once again, Morales escaped trouble in order to get back to his feet where he started to put together his strikes while inviting Giles to move forward with aggression.
That’s when Morales feasted on Giles overexposing himself while throwing heavy punches as he moved forward with the Ecuadorean welterweight unleashing a perfectly timed counter strikes. As soon as the punch landed, Giles dropped to the ground as Morales continued the assault with a barrage of shots that gave the referee no other choice but to stop the contest.
The win moves Morales to 13-0 overall but more importantly it kicks off his UFC career with a TKO over an experienced veteran like Giles.