Vince Morales is pleased with his KO win over Louis Smolka at UFC Vegas 44.

Morales entered his fight against Smolka in a unique scenario due to the fact his cousin in Ricky Simon is a training partner of Smolka. Although they originally didn’t want to fight one another, Morales is happy with his win as he became the first person to KO Smolka.

“It worked out well for me. I was planning for a three-round battle with him because I knew how tough he was and how many good people he has fought and didn’t get finished,” Morales said to BJPENN.com. “I was fully expecting us to slug it out the entire time. But, the thing that played out how I thought it would be was him in my face the entire time.”

In the lead-up to his fight against Smolka, Vince Morales knew he needed to win to secure his lofty goal of going 2-0 in 2021. He was coming off an Achilles surgery and didn’t get his first fight until August but he did go 2-0 and is happy where he is at bantamweight, but knows there is still more work to be done.

“I hit all my goals. After my Achilles surgery, I was adamant about getting two fights and two wins in 2021 and proving my name in the division, which is what I did,” Morales said. “I’ve also settled into my new team at Syndicate very nicely, so I’m stoked about the position I’m in but I still want to go higher.”

The plan for Morales now is to return in February or March and has his eyes on Nathaniel Wood. He says he would be open to fighting on the UFC London card against Wood as Morales knows a win over Wood would put him right near the top-15 at bantamweight.

“I mentioned Nathaniel Wood after the fight and I think that is a good one. This win raises my stock and I’m looking forward to my next test,” Morales said. “I do want to fight someone ranked ahead of me that has done some work in the UFC against, which is why I think Wood makes a lot of sense.”

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