{"id":484132,"date":"2026-01-01T06:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T06:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/484132\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T06:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T06:26:10","slug":"why-ufc-contender-michael-morales-dresses-as-a-widow-on-new-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/484132\/","title":{"rendered":"Why UFC contender Michael Morales dresses as a widow on New Year\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">For the past couple of years \u2014 and occasionally at random points throughout the year \u2014 videos of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/2025\/5\/18\/24432382\/ufc-vegas-106-the-morning-after-comically-huge-michael-morales-imminent-title-threat-making-weight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Welterweight title contender<\/a> <strong>Michael Morales<\/strong> have gone viral showing him dancing in the streets\u2026 wearing a tight black dress cosplaying as a widow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Naturally, the internet does what it does best.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Fans are usually left asking some version of the same question: Why is this ultra-masculine UFC fighter dressed like a grieving woman and dancing in public?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The answer is actually simple \u2014 and deeply cultural.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Morales is celebrating Las Viudas, an Ecuadorian New Year\u2019s Eve tradition that dates back more than a century.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Before diving into the explanation, here\u2019s a recent video of Morales taking part in the festivities:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Las Viudas, which translates to \u201cThe Widows,\u201d is a uniquely Ecuadorian tradition held every Dec. 31 as part of the larger A\u00f1o Viejo (\u201cOld Year\u201d) celebration. Men dress as exaggerated mourning widows of the \u201cdying\u201d old year, wearing black (or sometimes colorful) dresses, wigs, heavy makeup, and high heels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">They take to the streets in groups, dancing, crying dramatically, flirting with drivers, and even blocking traffic \u2014 all while collecting money to help \u201cpay for the funeral\u201d of their late \u201chusband,\u201d the Old Year. It\u2019s part satire, part performance art, and part communal celebration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">At midnight, the tradition culminates with the burning of effigies \u2014 puppets or figures representing politicians, celebrities, or the misfortunes of the past year \u2014 symbolizing a fresh start and good luck for the year ahead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">So yes, when you see Morales in a dress, he\u2019s not trolling \u2014 he\u2019s honoring tradition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The 26-year-old is coming off a first-round knockout win over <strong>Sean Brady<\/strong> at UFC 322 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmamania.com\/ufc-322-jack-della-vs-islam-makhachev-start-time-full-results-espn-mma\/403047\/watch-ufc-322-video-highlights-results-espn-ppv-new-york-morales-knockout-brady\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">watch highlights<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the past couple of years \u2014 and occasionally at random points throughout the year \u2014 videos of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":484133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[185,171,80360,562,67,132,68,5352],"class_list":{"0":"post-484132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","11":"tag-ufc-news","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-videos"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115818424250806331","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}