Michael Morales looked good against Max Griffin tonight at UFC On ESPN 48 as he outstruck him from range and defended takedowns from the clinch on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
Leg kick from Morales and punches in response from Griffin. Morales with a couple of punches from range.
Solid inside leg kick from Griffin. Griffin circling on the outside. Jab for Morales. Griffin punches to the body and lands a calf kick.
Three-piece combo from Griffin. Jab for Morales. Jumping knee upstairs from Morales just misses.
Griffin fires off a couple of punches and then drives into the clinch against the cage. Morales reverses the position and then they break free.
Griffin punches his way into another possible takedown attempt against the cage. Morales defending for now and looking for knee strikes, then spins away.
Morales attempting a superman punch. hook for Morales. He threatens again and Griffin ducks under. Morales trying to set up another jumping knee but doesn’t commit to it.
Round Two:
Morales fires off a hard series of punches down the pipe. He has a bit of a swagger after that and then lands a heavy right hand that troubled Griffin.
Morales stalking him now looking for more offense as Griffin tries to buy some time on the outside to reset.
Morales swings for the fences and misses. Rangey jab from Morales. Kick from Griffin as Morales was looking to land more punches.
Wild swings from Morales as he presses forward but doesn’t find the mark. Clubbing right hand for Morales. Griffin avoids a couple of punches and clinches up looking for a takedown, but Morales defends well and gets back to striking range.
Solid jab from Morales. Right hand gets through for Griffin. He lands a low kick. Morales suddenly getting more aggressive as he fires off straight punches. He goes for a knee that lands to the groin though and forces a brief stoppage.
Morales firing off the jab and throws a head kick that’s blocked. Bit of showboating from Morales now as he raises a hand in the air while stalking Griffin in the final seconds of the round.
Round Three:
They exchange in close for a moment. Inside leg kick from Morales. Griffin with a couple of punches. Head kick attempt from Griffin whistles over Morales head.
Griffin swarming in with big punches and a knee attempt. Solid jab for Morales. Now a low kick. Back to the jab. Superman punch attempt from Morales misses and then he has to defend a takedown attempt from Griffin against the cage.
Griffin works for a double-leg and lands it, but Morales bounces straight back up and then switches around to take Griffin’s back. Griffin breaks away though.
Griffin into another takedown against the cage and Morales reverses and breaks away.
Knee from Morales and Griffin takes it. Leg kick from Morales knocks Griffin off-balance to the mat for a moment. Morales with another low kick. A couple of punches land for Morales. He lands the jab.
Straight punches for Morales. Grazing right hand from Griffin. Morales nicely lands a takedown into side control in the final few seconds of the fight.
Decision:
No real doubt about the winner here as Morales fights his way to a unanimous decision win (29-28 x3) to extend his unbeaten record to 15-0.
