Vince Morales eager “to get one back” on Factory X after Chris Gutierrez loss, believes he will submit Jonathan Martinez

Vince Morales was thrilled when he found out he would be fighting Jonathan Martinez.

Martinez trains at Factory X and is the main training partner of Chris Gutierrez who beat Morales by TKO (leg kicks) in May of 2020. Since then, he has rallied off two straight wins, including his last being a KO victory over Louis Smolka, so he’s eager for the chance to try and get one back on Martinez’s camp.

“We both fought on the Sacramento card and my cousin Ricky (Simon) had our after party at the same spot so we kind of hung out together and talked a little bit. Every time he fights, I always give him props, I think he’s legit,” Morales said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I’m familiar with his style, and his team considering I fought Gutierrez going on a couple of years ago, I think it’s a great fight and I match up well. We are both on a two-fight win streak, so we are kind of coming into our own and looking to prove my own spot in the division.”

In his loss against Gutierrez, Morales failed to check the leg kicks which ended up costing him. With that, he believes Martinez will head into the fight being confident he can do the same, but Morales knows he has fixed that hole in his game.

“100 percent, that is one of the first things I thought of, of getting this one back against his team,” Morales said. “I think they think that is the glaring hole that Gutierrez was able to expose… It is what it is, I’m looking to get one back and looking to prove I have fixed that hole in my game.”

With Vince Morales being confident that he will be able to check the leg kicks of Jonathan Martinez, he believes he will eventually hurt Martinez which will force him to take a bad shot and will lead Morales to get the submission win.

“I plan to do more of the same. I know Martinez is tough and will take a little longer as he is durable and can take it as well as dish it right back,” Morales said. “It will be a little back-and-forth until I think I crack him, he gets hurt, goes for a takedown and I choke him out.”

If Morales does as he says and gets the submission win, he believes he would be one win away from a top-15 opponent. He also plans to kick off the year in a big way on Saturday night.

“Another step in the right direction, I’m hoping this one and another one and we are looking at a fight in the top-15,” Morales concluded. “My goal for 2022 was three fights, three wins, and looking for that last one to be in the top-15. This is the step in the right direction.”

Do you think Vince Morales will beat Jonathan Martinez?