Gabriel Benitez, Omar Morales (©UFC)

Omar Morales, 34, of Caracas, Venezuela was one of the winners at “UFC Fight Night 175,” also known as “UFC on ESPN+ 29.” It was the undefeated mixed martial artist’s second victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Featuring 10 MMA matches, “UFC Fight Night 175” took place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, USA on May 13, 2020. In the third bout of the evening, Morales fought Gabriel “Moggly” Benítez, 31, of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico in the lightweight division.

Dan Miragliotta served as the referee. After three five-minute rounds, the lightweight contest was left in the hands of the three judges, who scored it 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

In the end, Miragliotta raised the hand of Morales. The undefeated Venezuelan MMA fighter was declared the winner via unanimous decision.

Winning at “UFC Fight Night 175” improved the professional MMA record of Morales to 10 wins and 0 loss. It was the third time he won a professional MMA bout via unanimous decision.

On the other hand, Benitez now has 21 wins and 8 losses. He is now riding a two-bout losing streak.

The UFC held “UFC Fight Night 175” amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic while almost all other major MMA promotions have either cancelled or postponed their events. In the main event of the evening, Glover Teixeira, 40, of Sobrália, Minas Gerais, Brazil knocked out Anthony “Lionheart” Smith, 31, of Omaha, Nebraska, USA in the light heavyweight division.

Teixeira and Drew Dober, 31, of Denver, Colorado, USA were the two recipients of the Performance of the Night bonuses at “UFC Fight Night 175.” Presented by Toyo Tires, the Fight of the Night was the featherweight bout between Brian “Boom” Kelleher, 33, of Selden, New York, USA and Hunter Azure, 28, of Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Six countries were represented at “UFC Fight Night 175” namely Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the U.S. and Venezuela. Benitez solely represented Mexico and Morales was the sole representative of Venezuela.

Born in Caracas on October 17, 1985, Morales has been competing professionally as an MMA fighter since 2011 and he made his UFC debut in 2019. In his promotional debut, he defeated “Maestro” Ma Dong Hyun, 31, of Busan, South Korea via unanimous decision.