“You are having too much fun out there twerking, twirling” - Joaquin Buckley hilariously reacts to Michael Morales dancing in female dress 

Undefeated UFC star Michael Morales celebrated New Year's Eve in a different way. The Ecuadorian was seen dancing and celebrating with many other men dressed in women’s clothes.

All of them were in black and this seems to be part of the country’s Las Viudas tradition (h/t ufc-title-contender-michael-morales-dresses-like-a-widowed-woman-every-new-years-eve-video" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">MMA Mania). The tradition sees men dress up as widows, wear make-up and wigs. They collect money during this celebration and then burn puppets to symbolize the start of a brand new year.

While Morales was celebrating in Ecuador, Joaquin Buckley called out the 19-0 star. ‘New Mansa’ thought that Morales was having a little too much fun in his native country:

“I don’t know if this is just tradition now, a lot of people say that this is a tradition down in Ecuador and this is what they do. I don’t know what the story behind this is, I don’t know the history behind it, they say it’s tradition but it looks like you are having too much fun out there twerking, twirling, throwing your hips like.”

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Buckley went on to say that Morales should accept who he is and continue 2026 in this fashion. He also wanted the UFC’s rising star to wear these dresses to all the promotion’s events:

“Michael Morales. Go ahead and wear them dresses at the press conference. Go ahead and wear them dresses at the weigh-ins. You a street walker. We knew this for a while now. You might become a bigger star because of it.”

Check out Joaquin Buckley’s comments below:

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Belal Muhammad believes Michael Morales deserves a title shot

Michael Morales’ stock in the UFC has grown rapidly in recent months. The 26-year-old has big wins over Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady in his last two fights.

His last three fights have all ended in first-round finishes and that has pushed him into title contention.

Belal Muhammad was discussing who should be Islam Makhachev’s next opponent. While the UFC welterweight champion wants to fight Kamaru Usman as his first title defence, Muhammad suggested that Morales should be in line for a crack at gold:

"Who do I think deserves it [title shot]? Who do I think has earned it? I think Michael Morales for sure has earned it. But we see the seeds planted. We see Islam planting the seeds of Usman being the next guy. Obviously, they have the same manager... Do I think Usman is an easier matchup for him? Of course. The guy fought one time in three years, and he's 1-3. I'm still ahead of you [Usman]. Even though I lost my last two fights, I'm still 2-2."

Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim