Michael Morales has chance to break through in first UFC main event spot

Michael Morales, who headlines his first UFC event this weekend, has a whole lot in common with new welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena.

May 15, 2025 - 18:12

Michael Morales has chance to break through in first UFC main event spot

The UFC’s welterweight division will remain front and centre this weekend, mere days removed from a new champion being crowned.

Jack Della Maddalena defeated Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 this past weekend in Montreal to earn the gold strap, and while the new champ has his sights set on a blockbuster bout with Islam Makhachev later this year, the rest of the 170-pound contenders will in the meantime continue jockeying for position within the stacked and exciting division.

Michael Morales is about to participate in his first UFC main event as the division’s No. 12-ranked contender opposite Gilbert Burns, a respected former title challenger who’s still ranked No. 8 and is extra motivated as he looks to snap the first multi-fight losing streak of his career.

The unbeaten 25-year-old from Ecuador has been one of the more highly touted young fighters on the UFC roster since he debuted in early 2022, which fight fans can obviously also say about Della Maddalena.

The similarities don’t end there.

In fact, on paper at least, Morales and the new champion have a fair deal in common.

Morales earned a UFC contract thanks to a unanimous decision win on Dana White’s Contender Series in September of 2021, exactly one week after Della Maddalena earned a unanimous decision on the Contender Series that got him into the big show.

Both fighters debuted at UFC 270 in January 2022, and both earned first-round technical knockout victories that night within an hour of one another – JDM took out Pete Rodriguez in about three minutes and Morales stopped Trevin Giles in roughly four.

Each man’s hype train slowed down slightly thanks to back-to-back competitive decision wins in 2023, but they also each bounced back with a Performance of the Night-winning TKO in their lone 2024 appearance.

Della Maddalena picked up the biggest win of his career at the time when he finished Burns at UFC 299 in a fight Burns was less than 90 seconds away from winning.

Morales, who’ll attempt to follow in Della Maddalena’s footsteps by beating Burns to get his hand and reach the upper echelon of the always evolving 170-pound weight class, hasn’t fought since his first-round TKO win over Neil Magny at a UFC Fight Night last August.

Della Maddalena ended up fighting for and winning the title in his next outing after beating Burns; Morales will certainly have to put in more work before his name starts getting mentioned in any title shot conversations.

An impressive win this weekend will vault Morales into the top 10 and depending on how he hypothetically gets it done there’ll be another obvious point of comparison – did Morales beat Burns more impressively than Della Maddalena did?

Another similarity? JDM is 18-2 as a pro and just won his 18th consecutive fight after beginning his career 0-2; Morales is a perfect 17-0 going for 18-0. There aren’t many fighters at any level in MMA riding 18-fight winning streaks.

Morales is now set for his first UFC main event, exactly one week after Della Maddalena participated in his first UFC main event.

All these parallels will be moot, however, if Morales is felled by Burns.

/* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6372812642112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6372812642112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6372812642112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc");

if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; }

var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP");

if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; }

adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); }

$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );

$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-741003" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6372812642112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/6372812642112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/ufc/video/gilbert-burns-believes-he-can-bounce-back-to-elite-form-at-welterweight/" }); });

The Brazilian is turning 39 in July yet he has been an elite welterweight talent since returning to the division in 2019, only losing to top-tier opponents.

Burns fell short in his title attempt when he was finished by then-champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 258 in 2021; Burns was the first person to go the distance with Khamzat Chimaev, pushing the now-middleweight to the limit in their UFC 273 Fight of the Night in 2022.

After beating Magny and Jorge Masvidal in 2023, Burns hasn’t had the results he’s used to.

Burns has lost his past three bouts: a five-round decision to former champ Muhammad, the aforementioned TKO to Della Maddalena and most recently another five-round decision to Sean Brady who’s currently the top-ranked welterweight yet to fight for the title.

Fans can watch UFC Fight Night: Burns vs. Morales Saturday on Sportsnet+ and Sportsnet 360 with coverage beginning at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.

/* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6372813026112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6372813026112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6372813026112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc");

if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; }

var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP");

if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; }

adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); }

$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );

$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-923660" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6372813026112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/6372813026112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/ufc/video/paul-craig-details-his-decision-to-return-to-light-heavyweight/" }); });

In Saturday’s co-main event, Scotland’s Paul Craig is set to take on Brazil’s Rodolfo Bellato who’s unbeaten in his past five.

Craig is returning to the 205-pound division after a four-fight run at 185 pounds that ended in consecutive losses to Brendan Allen, Caio Borralho and Bo Nickal. Craig only has one win in the past three years but his best work was as a light-heavyweight.

Three of Craig’s UFC wins are stoppages of former champions Jamahal Hill, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and he is the only person to defeat reigning light-heavyweight champion Magomed Ankalaev.

Below is the projected bout order for UFC Fight Night: Burns vs. Morales…

MAIN CARD

— Gilbert Burns vs. Michael Morales

— Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato

— Sodiq Yusuff vs. Mairon Santos

— Dustin Stoltzfus vs. Nursulton Ruziboev

— Julian Erosa vs. Melquizael Costa

— Gabriel Green vs. Matheus Camilo

PRELIMINARY CARD

— Jared Gordon vs. Thiago Moisés

— Luana Santos vs. Tainara Lisboa

— Yadier Del Valle vs. Connor Matthews