Matt Schnell seeks scrap with ‘hot’ TUF 33 winner Joseph Morales
UFC Fight Night 264’s Matt Schnell spoke to MMA Junkie and reporters at media day for his flyweight bout vs. Joseph Morales
LAS VEGAS – If Matt Schnell’s feelings toward Joseph Morales were to be summed up in one word, it might be “respect.”
Despite their status as soon-to-be opponents, Schnell (17-9 MMA, 7-7-1 UFC) couldn’t help but heap praise on Team Alpha Male’s Morales (13-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) during a pre-fight news conference Wednesday ahead of their UFC Fight Night 264 bout Saturday at the UFC Apex.
“He’s on a roll,” Schnell told MMA Junkie. “He’s a great grappler. He mixes it up pretty well, too. Well-rounded. But I think we know his grappling is what’s his strength and something he’s able to get guys out of there with. We’ve grappled quite a bit in this camp and intend to grapple a little bit on Saturday night. So yeah, a dangerous opponent and a guy who’s overcome a lot of adversity in his own right. (He’s) a tough kid, and he ran through ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is tough.”
Perhaps more than anything else, Schnell admires Morales’ tangible ability to overcome adversity, evidenced by his dominant return to the UFC in 2025 after being released by the promotion nearly seven years prior in 2018.
“(I have) so much admiration, much respect to Joseph Morales for getting through that,” Schnell said. “He was kind of being the underdog the whole time. He was the vet. When those shows happen, it’s always a pretty safe bet to take a vet, like Joseph Morales. He’s been very impressive. It takes a lot and shows a lot about him that he was able to overcome getting cut. I said in an interview today, I don’t know how I would’ve dealt with that. I can’t sit here, look you in the face, and say, ‘I would’ve done it, too.’ I don’t know. That’s a hard pill to swallow. It means quite a bit that he was able to overcome that, storm back, and now he’s about to fight me Saturday night. How about it?”
Schell, 35, has been around the UFC block a time or two with Saturday’s flyweight co-main event showdown being his 16th promotional bout. He’s learned a lot over the years, both physically and mentally. Like he aims to do every fight, the upcoming installment is one he hopes to show off advancements.
“I don’t have to make anything happen,” Schnell said. “I think the past, I’ve kind of gotten wrapped up in that ‘I’m a scrapper. I’ve got to go out there and make something.’ I don’t have to make anything happen. My two feet on that mat, my two feet on that canvas, we scrapping. I just have to be in the moment, read, react, fight the way I’ve always fought, and not overreach. But I think it’s important to make it a fight and not make it pretty and let him get his good grappling stuff off and get into those technical grappling aspects. Be gritty. Be mean. Do my best and cause some damage along the way. We’ll see who wins. It’s a scrap, though, baby. I know it is. It’s going to be a good one.”
