Undefeated Welterweight’s Stock On Rise After Vegas Victory Saturday

Michael Morales (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) might just be the UFC’s next biggest star at 170 lbs. Heading into this past weekend, Morales stood at No. 12 in the rankings at welterweight, squaring off against No. 8 contender Gilbert Burns (22-9 MMA, 16-9 UFC)

This contest between Michael Morales and Gilbert Burns was slated to have happened on the night of May 10 during UFC 315 from Bell Centre in Montreal. Ahead of the premium live event, however, promotion officials made the decision to pivot the fight to the headlining affair at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, NV.

Although the contest was pushed back by seven days, the delay mattered not to the Morales camp. If, by chance, you missed the main event of UFC Vegas 106 as it happened live over ESPN+ this past Saturday night, do yourselves a favor: Go and watch it because you’ll see one of the most brutal finishes in MMA so far in 2025.

Michael Morales Makes Quick Work of Gilbert Burns en Route to $50K Bonus

The contest was slated to be a five-round affair at five minutes apiece, but Morales only needed a fraction of the time to complete his assignment. Right from the command to fight in the opening round, he stalked his adversary and bided his time, waiting for the right moment to deliver a punishing strike, absorbing a kick a few seconds in.

With about a minute gone from the first-round clock, Michael Morales uncorked a right-handed shot to back Gilbert Burns up slightly. During the live telecast, blow-by-blow commentator John Gooden reiterated that Morales preferred the main event versus Burns ending by way of knockout in the opening round or via submission in the final round.

Burns, who once challenged for the UFC Welterweight Championship against Kamaru Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC), countered a right hand from Michael Morales with one of his own, but the latter was just too tough. By the three-minute mark of round one, he’d already backed up Gilbert Burns against the fence of the Octagon.

Michael Morales Smells Blood in the Water

Even though Gilbert Burns tried to hang with Morales during the fight, the No. 12 contender at welterweight was moving quickly and beating him to the punch. As the opening round neared its midpoint, Morales connected on a kick to Burns’ leg, and moments later, Burns took Morales down to the canvas.

This takedown was ill-fated, however, with Gilbert Burns putting Michael Morales in the back clinch after the latter popped back up. Upon breaking away from the clinch, Morales went in for the kill shot, scoring with a barrage of uppercuts against the cage fence to knock Burns down.

A flurry of follow-up shots was everything referee Herb Dean needed to see to put an end to the main event of the evening in favor of Michael Morales. Time of the knockout, 3:39 into the opening round.