Joseph Morales (born August 22, 1994) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
In his MMA debut at , Joseph defeated Christian Espinosa via unanimous decision. Then he defeated Roque Reyes via TKO in the first round. At WFC 14, Joseph submitted Benji Gomez in the second round via rear naked choke. He also tapped out Gerald Bailey in round one via guillotine choke at GKO 4. Joseph submitted his next two opponents in Sammy Saunders and Gerald Bailey respectively. At GKO 8, he defeated Josh Paiva via unanimous decision, earning him the GKO Flyweight Championship. At CFFC 64 Joseph defeated Sean Santella via TKO in the second round and earned his ticket to the UFC in the process.
Morales made his promotional debut on August 5, 2017, at , facing Roberto Sanchez. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke in round one and earned a Performance of the Night bonus.
On February 3, 2018, Morales faced Deiveson Figueiredo at . He lost the fight via technical knockout in round two.
Morales faced Eric Shelton on November 10, 2018, at . He lost the fight via split decision.
After losing his last two fights, Morales got released from the UFC in May 2019.
Morales made his return to mixed martial arts, after a three year absence from the sport, to face Kevin Wirth at Cage Warriors 126 on August 1, 2021. Morales won the fight by unanimous decision.
Morales faced Sidemar Honorio on March 4, 2022, at Cage Warriors 133. He won the bout via split decision.
Morales won the A1C Flyweight Championship on February 3, 2023, submitting Anthony Do in the third round via triangle choke.
Morales competed in the of The Ultimate Fighter, where he defeated Eduardo Henrique in the quarterfinal via first round submission, and then defeated Imanol Rodriguez in the semi final via split decision.
Morales faced Alibi Idiris in the tournament final on August 16, 2025, at UFC 319. He won the fight via a triangle choke in round two to become The Ultimate Fighter season 33 winner.
Morales faced Matt Schnell on November 8, 2025, at UFC Fight Night 264. He won the fight via guillotine choke submission in the first round.
Morales was booked to compete in the Combat Jiu-Jitsu bantamweight world championship on July 30, 2023.
|- |Win |align=center|14âÂÂ2 |Matt Schnell |Submission (guillotine choke) | | |align=center|1 |align=center|2:54 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Win |align=center|13âÂÂ2 |Alibi Idiris |Submission (triangle choke) |UFC 319 | |align=center|2 |align=center|3:04 |Chicago, Illinois, United States | |- |Win |align=center|12âÂÂ2 |Anthony Do |Submission (triangle choke) |Urijah Faber's A1 Combat 8 | |align=center|3 |align=center|4:46 |Lemoore, California, United States | |- |Win |align=center| 11âÂÂ2 |Sidemar Honorio |Decision (split) |Cage Warriors 133 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |San Diego, California, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 10âÂÂ2 | Kevin Wirth |Decision (unanimous) |Cage Warriors 126 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |San Diego, California, United States | |- | Loss | align=center| 9âÂÂ2 |Eric Shelton |Decision (split) | | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Denver, Colorado, United States | |- | Loss | align=center| 9âÂÂ1 | Deiveson Figueiredo |TKO (punches) | | |align=center|2 |align=center|4:34 |Belém, Brazil | |- | Win | align=center| 9âÂÂ0 |Roberto Sanchez |Submission (rear-naked choke) | | |align=center|1 |align=center|3:56 |Mexico City, Mexico | |- | Win | align=center| 8âÂÂ0 | Sean Santella | TKO (punches) |Cage Fury FC 64 | |align=center|2 |align=center|3:24 |San Diego, California, United States | |- | Win | align=center|7âÂÂ0 | Josh Paiva | Decision (unanimous) |Global Knockout 8 | |align=center| 5 |align=center| 5:00 |Jackson, California, United States | |- | Win | align=center|6âÂÂ0 | Gerald Bailey |Submission (rear-naked choke) |Global Knockout 7 | |align=center|1 |align=center|3:48 |Jackson, California, United States | |- | Win | align=center|5âÂÂ0 | Sammy Saunders | Submission (triangle choke) | Global Knockout 6 | | align=center|1 | align=center|3:50 | Jackson, California, United States | |- | Win | align=center|4âÂÂ0 | Gerald Bailey |Submission (rear-naked choke) |Global Knockout 4 | |align=center|1 |align=center|2:30 |Jackson, California, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 3âÂÂ0 | Benji Gomez |Submission (rear-naked choke) | West Coast FC 14 | | align=center|2 | align=center|2:21 | Sacramento, California, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 2âÂÂ0 | Roque Reyes | TKO (punches) | West Coast FC 13 | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 1:43 | Sacramento, California, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 1âÂÂ0 | Christian Espinosa | Decision (unanimous) | | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | Sacramento, California, United States |
|Win |align=center|2âÂÂ0 |Imanol Rodriguez |Decision (split) |rowspan=2| | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |rowspan=2|Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Win |align=center|1âÂÂ0 |Eduardo Henrique |Submission (rear-naked choke) | |align=center|1 |align=center|2:26 |