UFC Miami Gets Pivotal Welterweight Fraud-Check Fight: Report

January 10, 2025 Admin

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 13: UFC CEO Dana White attends the UFC 300 event at T-Mobile Arena on … [+] April 13, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

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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?

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 08: In this UFC handout, Mackenzie Dern poses on the scale during the … [+] UFC Fight Night weigh-in at UFC APEX on October 08, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images)

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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.