Dana White and the UFC are really good at discovering if their hottest prospects have the goods. Some fans call it being “fraud checked.”
One of those fights is reportedly set for UFC Miami on April 12. Per Ag. Fight, No. 8 Gilbert Burns is set to face No. 12 Michael Morales.
Mind you, the Miami card hasn’t been confirmed, but it is seemingly well-known in the UFC community that the event will take place.
Burns, 38, is trying to shake a nasty three-fight losing streak.
While he has lost to the cream of the crop at welterweight—with a unanimous-decision defeat to Belal Muhammad (before he won the championship), a TKO loss to Jack Della Maddalena, and a unanimous-decision defeat to Sean Brady—Burns still hasn’t won a fight since April 2023.
He badly needs to claim a victory if he wants to remain in the division’s Top 10. Another loss could mean the proud Brazilian is that much closer to retirement.
Morales is on the polar opposite end of the fight spectrum.
At 17-0, the 25-year-old from Ecuador is arguably the best prospect 25-and-under in the UFC. After earning his way into the UFC with a unanimous-decision win over Nikolay Veretennikov in September 2021 on the Contender Series, Morales has mowed down a continuously escalating line of opposition.
Morales stopped Trevin Giles in the first round in his main roster debut in January 2022. He then knocked out Adam Fugitt in June 2022.
In July 2023, Morales earned a unanimous-decision win over veteran Max Griffin. In November 2023, Morales captured another unanimous-decision nod over veteran Jake Matthews.
Most recently, Morales scored an impressive first-round TKO win over master fraud-checker Neil Magny in August 2024. The win over Magny landed Morales in the Top 15, and he has every intention of reaching the Top 10—which he would do with a win over Burns.
If he beats Burns impressively, Morales could get a Top-5 opponent in the fourth quarter of the year.
If you’re looking for the year’s biggest potential breakout star, Morales should be on your shortlist of fighters to keep an eye on in 2025.
What’s Next For the UFC?
The No. 1 MMA promotion is back on Saturday, January 11, with a card at the Apex in Las Vegas. Mackenzie Dern will fight Amanda Ribas in a rematch of their 2019 meeting. Ribas won the first fight, and Dern will be looking to even the score with her countrywoman.
Here is a look at the entire card.
UFC Vegas 101 Main Card
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas
- Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Carlston Harris
- César Almeida vs. Abdul Razak Alhassan
- Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov
- Christian Rodriguez vs. Austin Bashi
- Punahele Soriano vs. Uroš Medić
UFC Vegas 101 Preliminary Card
- Jose Johnson vs. Felipe Bunes
- Marco Tulio vs. Ihor Potieria
- Thiago Moisés vs. Trey Ogden
- Preston Parsons vs. Jacobe Smith
- Ernesta Kareckaitė vs. Nicolle Caliari
- Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Bruno Lopes
- Fatima Kline vs. Victoria Dudakova
- Nurullo Aliev vs. Joe Salecki
