Morales Seized the TUF 33 Crown With a Second-Round Triangle
Joseph Morales submitted Alibi Idiris on August 16, 2025, at UFC 319 in Chicago to win The Ultimate Fighter Season 33 flyweight final. The triangle choke ended the contest at 3:04 of the second round at United Center.
First-round grappling created an early threat
Morales worked patiently to bring Idiris to the canvas rather than rushing the opening exchanges. Once the fight reached the ground, he advanced through the positions and eventually took his opponent’s back.
The round ended with Morales threatening a rear-naked choke. Idiris survived that attack, but the sequence established how dangerous the returning UFC fighter could become once he connected his takedowns with positional advancement.
The next submission opportunity produced the finish
Morales resumed pressing the grappling exchanges in the second round and again brought Idiris down. This time, he transitioned into a triangle choke and forced the tap.
The submission completed the flyweight tournament with a definitive result. Morales had threatened from the back in the first round and then finished through a different submission position in the second.
A returning fighter earned a new UFC chapter
Morales was thirty years old and had already experienced a previous UFC run. That first stint ended with one victory and two defeats, including a loss to future flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo.
Winning the TUF final therefore marked a return to the promotion through its long-running tournament series. At United Center, his patient wrestling and successive submission threats supplied the performance that secured the season’s flyweight title.
Sources
- UFC: round-by-round submission threats and prior promotional run
- UFC: Season 33 flyweight final and official finish
- UFC: official triangle-choke result
