Las Vegas — Saturday’s UFC Vegas 106 main event saw Michael Morales pick up his biggest win yet.
While your next fight is always your biggest when it comes to MMA, Morales, in his first headlining spot for the UFC, was facing a former title challenger in Gilbert Burns. At 38, Burns is nearing the end of his career, but remains a formidable opponent nonetheless. And Morales felt it.
“Sure man, I was sh*tting my pants. I’ll tell you something, it was something. I was nervous out there,” Morales (18-0) admitted following the bout, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press.
“They don’t call him ‘Durinho’ for nothing. He’s a guy that, whoever has to be in a cage with that guy, to fight, they would feel the nerves. And for everything he’s done, he’s a guy who’s always fighting for a title, the people that he has fought throughout his career, I think it was important for to get that fight. To prove to him [that] the tough guy tonight was me.”
Morales proved he was not only the tougher fighter, but able to finish the rugged Brazilian, ending Burns’ night inside of a round. Morales was lighting him up on the feet and added a few finishing blows when Burns when down. Now, alongside newly crowned champ Jack Della Maddalena, Shavkat Rakhmonov, and Ian Garry, Morales is one of a handful of impressive fresh faces that have rejuvenated the welterweight division.
If Morales had his way, another one of those faces would be next.
“I talked about Ian Garry. That’s a fighter that I’ve always wanted to fight,” noted Morales, who added that he’s aware Garry is probably looking up the rankings. “That might not happen, but the fight that I would really like the make— the biggest thing is just being healthy and just recovering from a couple of strikes that I had, that I took— is to be in Guadalajara. I think that if that fight, if they’re able to make it, I would like to fight whoever in Guadalajara.”
Noche UFC is currently scheduled for Guadalajara, Mexico in September. Whether he lands there or not, Morales is looking to take advantage of opportunities at the end of the day. “Maybe the sixth, the fifth, the fourth in the rankings, and we’ll take whatever opportunity God gives us to do.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 106 post-fight press conference with Michael Morales above.
