Preview: UFC 319 Prelims

‘The Ultimate Fighter 33’ Flyweight Final

Alibi Idiris (10-0, 0-0 UFC) vs. Joseph Morales (12-2, 1-2 UFC)

ODDS: N/A Season 33 of The Ultimate Fighter wraps up its flyweight bracket here, which includes Morales’ surprising UFC return. Morales was part of the UFC’s flyweight cull in 2018, though “Bopo” still might have been danger in sliding out of the promotion otherwise. After an impressive UFC debut, he had the poor fortune of running into an ascendant Deiveson Figueiredo before suffering a disappointing loss to Eric Shelton. Morales has been relatively inactive since that loss, fighting only three times in the last six and a half years, but the results have been decent whenever he has stepped into the cage. He’s now applying the same basic weapons more aggressively, making him much more of a round-winning wrestler and grappler. That served him well on the show, including gutting out a narrow decision to earn this spot in the final, but he gets a tough test in Kazakhstan’s Idiris.

Idiris is a powerhouse athlete for a flyweight and has the game to match. There are some technical and defensive gaps in his approach, but his combination of spinning strikes and powerful wrestling is usually enough to make up for any deficits. That’s essentially the read here. Idiris figures to run into trouble at some point as he works his way up the flyweight ladder, but Morales has historically struggled with better athletes, and even in his improved state doesn’t look able to control the proceedings in this one. The pick is Idiris via second-round knockout.



Jump To »
Green vs. Ferreira
Oleksiejczuk vs. Meerschaert
Godinez vs. Andrade
Hooper vs. Hernandez
Barboza vs. Klose
Battle vs. Ruziboev
Silva vs. Barbosa
Sezinando vs. Donchenko
Idiris vs. Morales