Motoya vs Morales

Who won Motoya vs Morales?

Vince Morales beat Yuki Motoya by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the main card of RIZIN 45, on Sunday 31st December 2023 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Vince Morales.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Motoya vs Morales division, which meant the weight limit was pounds (0 stone or 0 KG).

Motoya vs Morales stats

Yuki Motoya stepped into the octagon with a record of 33 wins, 10 losses and 0 draws, 7 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 12 by submission.

Vince Morales made his way to the cage with a record of 11 wins, 7 losses and 0 draws, 6 of those wins coming by knock out and 2 by submission.

This was Yuki Motoya's 20th fight in Rizin, having made his debut for the promotion in 2015. Vince Morales marked his 1st fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2023.

Yuki Motoya's Rizin record stood at 12-7-0, while Vince Morales' came in at 1-0-0.

The stats suggested Morales had a massive power advantage over Motoya, boasting a 55% knock out percentage over Motoya's 21%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Motoya had an advantage over Morales, with a 36% submission rate over Morales' 18%.

Yuki Motoya was the older man by 1 year, at 35 years old.

Motoya was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 25 more fights, and made his debut in 2010, 5 years and 2 months earlier than Morales, whose first professional fight was in 2015. He had fought 46 more professional rounds, 105 to Morales' 59.

Motoya vs Morales form

Motoya had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges 3 times.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Kai Asakura at RIZIN 42 on 6th May 2023 by knockout in the 3rd round at Tokyo Ariake Arena, Tokyo, Japan.

Previous to that, he had won against Rogerio Bontorin at RIZIN 40 on 31st December 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Kazuma Kuramoto at RIZIN LANDMARK Vol.4 on 6th November 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Dolphins Arena, Nagoya.

Before that, he had defeated Shinobu Ota at RIZIN 37 on 31st July 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama.

He was victorious against Alan Yoshihiro Yamaniha at RIZIN 35 on 17th April 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, Chofu.

Morales had beaten 2 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going the distance once.

In his last fight before this contest, he had been beaten by Miles Johns at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Spivak on 19th November 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC Apex, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had been defeated by Jonathan Martinez at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Vieira on 21st May 2022 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had won against Louis Smolka at UFC Fight Night on 4th December 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Before that, he had beaten Drako Rodriguez at UFC 265 on 7th August 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Toyota Center, Houston.

He had lost to Yadong Song at UFC Fight Night 141 on 24th November 2018 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Cadillac Arena, Beijing, China.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Yuki Motoya had been fighting more than Vince Morales.

Going to this contest, Yuki Motoya had last fought 1 year, 10 months and 7 days ago, while Vince Morales' last outing had been 2 years, 3 months and 22 days ago.

Motoya's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 10 months and 24 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 7 months. In those fights, he fought a total of 14 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.8 rounds on average.

Morales' last 5 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 3 months and 17 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 3 months and 5 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Motoya vs Morales?

Yuki Motoya was a 4/6 (-150) favourite going into the contest, while Vince Morales made his way into the ring at 6/5 (+120) with oddsmakers.