Michael Morales came through with the needle-moving performance he needed.
The undefeated Entram Gym star aced his most significant test to date in the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division when he buried Gilbert Burns with punches in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 256 headliner on May 17, 2025 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Morales closed the show and took a figurative bow 3:39 into Round 1, improving his perfect record to 18-0.
Burns had no answers for the Ecuadorian mauler. Morales sent the Kill Cliff Fight Club mainstay into a backpedal with a sweeping right hook and had him ducking for cover along the fence.