Manny Morales looking for a finish at AOW 41

Intervie with Manny Morales below:

MMA Philly style

Philadelphia MMA is currently experiencing the greatest time in their history.  Besides Eddie Alvarez winning the UFC lightweight championship in 2016, Philly’s Sean Brady had the most iconic moment for the city of brotherly love in the cage this past Saturday night.  Brady, on short notice, went across the pond to #1 ranked Leon Edwards homeland, and demolished him the entire fight before choking him out in the 4th round.  Brady has shot up from #5 in the world at 170 to the #1 contender to Belal Muhammad, who holds the belt. Brady’s teammate, Joe “Bodybagz” Pyfer was scheduled in the co-main event this week against Kevin Gastellum in Mexico before becoming ill and having to be pulled from the fight.  And their other teammate, Patrick Sabbatini has the co-main event on April 5th at the Apex.  The city is on fire when it comes to mixed martial arts, and this has trickled down to the regional scene where Art of War Cage Fighting continues to host many of these talented men and women who are chasing dreams.

Marquez MMA & family

These three UFC fighters all call Marquez MMA home.  Their room on the 4th floor in NE Philly is as deep and talented as there is in the sport.  Multiple other UFC fighters as well as a giant group of up-and-coming fighters gather here to work and help each other get better. I’m blessed to be about 20 minutes from them and always appreciate the warm welcome when I show up to observe or check-in with some fighters who are in camp preparing for battle.  Marquez MMA also has several affiliated schools in the Philadelphia area such as Webb Fitness and MMA.  Owner and head coach Jonavin Webb is a UFC veteran and a regular in the corners of many fighters including the large contingent of UFC guys at Marquez.

Brotherly Love @Webb Fitness and MMA

Manny Morales has been with Jonavin since day 1 of training and says that Webb has been his main grappling partner ever since.  Manny has had some of the worst luck with opponents pulling out or being injured.  The 170 lber is 4-2 as a pro and is taking another short notice fight, but at 185 lbs.  Morales will enter the AOW cage on Saturday night to welcome Ohioan, Skylar Mollar.  Manny just returned from Mexico, where he was a big part of Joe Pyfer’s camp.  Manny says he really enjoyed the experience and got to train twice a day in altitude.  Please check out our 5 minute chat on the link above. Morales rolls with UFC guys daily and feels that his time is coming and will be following guys that he considers brothers, into the big show.  A big finish on Saturday night would be a good statement.

Art of War Cage Fighting 41 goes off on April 5th at the Valley Forge (PA) Casino.  Doors open at 6.  First bell at 7.  If you can’t make it to the event, it will be available on a PPV stream at the Starfund App.

Stay right here at MyMMANews for the best regional coverage around.

'Beautiful' Bob Meloni

More than 15 years experience in the PA/NJ regional MMA circuit. Commentator/post fight interviews/pre-fight show host @ Art of War Cage Fighting and Ring of Combat The story of the fighter is what Bob loves about the sport. From the lowest level, to the highest, he only cares about the two warriors who do battle once the cage doors close. Everything else is secondary. Without their blood, sweat, and tears, he would not be here enjoying every minute.

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