Michael Morales demolishes former title challenger Gilbert Burns at UFC Vegas 106

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated May 17, 2025 9:26 PM ET

(Zuffa LLC)

The UFC returned to Las Vegas this weekend with a UFC Fight Night event headlined by top-ranked welterweights Gilbert Burns and Michael Morales.

A former welterweight title challenger, Burns came up short against future champions Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena before a loss to Sean Brady put the Brazilian on the first three-fight skid of his career.

Burns wasn't presented with an easy matchup to try and end his losing streak, as Morales earned his first UFC main event slot by adding five victories to his undefeated record after joining the promotion off of Dana White's Contender Series.

Ranked welterweights READY for action @GilbertDurinho vs Michael Morales

[ #UFCVegas106 | TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus | 7pmET ] pic.twitter.com/ZyubMDk0zY
— UFC (@ufc) May 16, 2025

Morales Runs Through Burns In Las Vegasd

The two welterweight closed out what was originally supposed to be a 12-fight card in Las Vegas, but unfortunately the light heavyweight co-main event between Paul Craig and Rodolfo Bellato was cancelled during the event due to a medical issue.

They both love to throw down! @Gilbert_Burns vs Michael Morales

[ #UFCVegas106 | LIVE NOW on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/0Fl4igPfhH
— UFC (@ufc) May 18, 2025

The opening few minutes of the fight were spent fighting at range until Morales started to find success landing some clean punches, which encouraged Burns to try and bring things to his preferred arena on the ground.

Morales was able to stifle Burns' attempts to grapple and quickly get back to space, where the Ecuadorian really started to tee off and forced his opponent to cover up against the fence.

"Durinho" made a valient effort to try and survive the onslaught, but Morales continued unloading with huge strikes until Burns hit the canvas and referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight.

Wasted no time in this one ‍

Michael Morales gets the first round finish at #UFCVegas106! pic.twitter.com/UNNyGw9Wnw
— UFC (@ufc) May 18, 2025

Morales is now 18-0 after scoring the biggest victory of his career, and the 25-year-old will likely take Burns' spot in the welterweight Top 10 when the UFC rankings are updated next week.

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This article first appeared on MMA on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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