A week on from UFC 315, a fight that should have featured as part of the Montreal-based Pay-Per-View finally goes down at UFC Vegas 106.
That would be Gilbert Burns vs. Michael Morales, a welterweight showdown pushed back a week with tonight’s Fight Night card in need of a main event. That saw it bumped to a five-round affair, and it gives Morales both his first main event in the UFC, and first five-rounder overall, should it go that long.
A former title challenger, there’s zero question that Burns is coming up on the end of his career. Yet as he’s displayed against Khamzat Chimaev and others, “Durinho” is not a fighter who will go away quietly. The Brazilian is a very good litmus test for Morales, who is looking to build on a perfect 17-0 start to his career. In fact, Morales would be right there with Shavkat Rakhmonov, Ian Machado Garry, and new champ Jack Della Maddalena as one of the new faces of the 170lb division, had he not been out of action since last August.
Still, with wins over Neil Magny, Jake Matthews, and Max Griffin, there’s no question Michael Morales is on the right trajectory.
It’s fight day, and our picks are in for UFC Vegas 106, which takes place as usual at the Apex in Las Vegas. See below for how we see this one playing out.
There was very little dissention among the ranks this week, with the first two fights on the card, plus the main event, clean sweeps. Sorry, Gilbert Burns, apologies, “Juicy J” and Dustin Stoltzfus – we see Michael Morales, Melquizael Costa and Nursulton Ruziboev getting the job done.
Only one staff member is siding with Paul Craig over Rodolfo Bellato in the co-main event, and the only fight that has us divided was Sodiq Yusuff vs. Mairon Santos. That one is a toss up in our eyes.
