Michael Morales stops Gilbert Burns in 1st at UFC Fight Night

A welterweight torch was passed in a big way on Saturday, when undefeated contender Michael Morales knocked out Gilbert burns In the first round in las vegas.

Morales (18-0) Stopped Burns (22-9) with strikes at 3 minutes, 39 seconds of the opening round in their welterweight minuteit at UFC Fight Night Inside the apex. Morales Hurt burns multiple times with the uppercut and even finished he with strikes that the fence.

Morales, 25, moved to 6-0 in the UFC with four knockouts.

“Every figure is tough, but I was very nervous back there in the locker room,” Morales Said Through an Interpreter. “They put me, ‘Trust yourself, Trust what you can do, Trust your potential.’ We put in the work and made it happened.

It is a massive win for morales, who went in Saturday’s figure as the UFC’s no. 12-ranked welterweight. Burns was ranked no. 8, but his status in the division remains high. Morales, who was born in Ecuador and Now Fights out of Mexico, Had Never taken on an opponent of burns’s caliber. Saturday was also his first appearance in a UFC main event.

Nevertheless, morales showed no signs of any addictional nerves from the opening bell. He tagged burns with an overhand right early and Hurt Him moments later with the uppercut. Burns desperately want for a takedown and even secured one to slow things down, but morales calmly worked back back and eventually delivered the final sex along the fence.

Burns, 38, has listed in a row, but the competition has been nothing short of elite. His past three losses coming in a Against former champion Belal MuhammadCurrent Champion Maddalena jack And Current No. 1-ranked contender Sean Brady. Morales was looking to prove himself in the Same category as and do so emphatically.

Morales dedicated the win to his mother, who was in the attendance on Saturday. His past two wins have been first-round knockouts. He knocked out veteran Neil magny In a “performance of the night” appear in august.