Michael Morales’ biggest career moment is just hours away. The unbeaten Ecuadorian powerhouse has the task of setting the table for two of the most anticipated UFC title fights this year in what many are labeling the best UFC event of 2025.

Morales (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) fights No. 2 welterweight contender Sean Brady (18-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in the pay-per-view main card of UFC 322, which goes down this Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+/FX, ESPN+). It’s a bout that could open championship opportunities for Morales, or could push back his climb of the welterweight ladder.

Although a very tough outing against Brady, and also one that was made on relatively short notice with a month out from the event, Morales’ coach, Raul Arvizu, takes some comfort in the fact that the team feels they’ve been here before.

“For us, literally, we have the same strategy as we did against (Gilbert) Burns,” Morales told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. “Not a ton of changes. I think we did improve from the Burns fight. You know, a fighter goes through a camp, he’s tired and worn from the weight cut and then fights, but after the fight is when you really see the improvement. I do wish we had more time. We had three, four months against Burns, and here we have four weeks. But I spoke with people, and they thought it was a good opportunity, and more importantly, Michael wants to fight.”

Morales is coming off a quick KO win over former UFC title challenger Gilbert Burns, who, like Brady, is a high-level grappler. Arvizu feels stylistically they’re facing the same challenges today that they faced in May at UFC Fight Night 256. The Entram Gym boss does acknowledge that Brady is in a much better career spot than Burns at this moment in time, but the framework remains very similar.

“Part of why I was like, ‘If Michael wants to fight, we’re fighting,’ is because he’s another version of Burns,” Arvizu said. “For us, not a ton is going to change. He’s shorter in stature, less reach, good wrestling and very good jiu-jitsu. I would say, at this moment, Brady’s jiu-jitsu scares me more than Burns’. Historically, Burns is better, but the age and the type of grappling. His guillotine is dangerous, his kimura is dangerous. He always does the same thing: He jumps on hist left side, he mounts you, and he goes for kimura or guillotine. It’s very lineal. I think he’s a very hard fight.”