Michael Morales remains undefeated, finishes Adam Fugitt late at UFC 277

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, July 30, 2022, for UFC 277, going down live from the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas.

Headlining the event is a bantamweight championship rematch between current champion Julianna Pena and former champion, no. 1 ranked Amanda Nunes.

Co-headlining the event is also a championship rematch, this one going down in the flyweight division between former champion, no. 1 ranked Brandon Moreno, who faces no. 2 ranked Kai Kara-France for the interim title in the co-main event of the evening.

Headlining the early prelims tonight was a welterweight contest between Ecuadorian national muay thai champion and national wrestling champion Michael Morales, who faced UFC debutante Adam Fugitt in the preliminary main event of the evening.

Continue reading to see how this welterweight encounter went down:

Official Result: Michael Morales def. Adam Fugitt via TKO (punches) at 1:09 of round three

Morales’ dangerous striking is on display early, his primary weapon being his right cross. He throws it with a lot of power, he’s incredibly fast with it, and he’s also accurate with it.

Fugitt secures an inside trip takedown after initiating a clinch, and remains on top of Morales for a couple minutes. However, Morales was able to eventually get back to his feet, and he remained relaxed whilst on bottom.

Fugitt’s pressure is beginning to wear on Morales though, as he continues to walk him down, remaining durable while attempting more takedowns. It appeared the undefeated phenom may be down 20-18 going into the third and final round.

But, Morales really starts to let go of his hands at the beginning of the third and drops Fugitt with that vicious cross of his. Fugitt gets back to his feet after eating some follow up punches, but is again dropped and the referee stops the fight.

Michael Morales is now 14-0 as a professional, 2-0 in the UFC, and at just 23 years of age, he’s just getting started. The future couldn’t look much brighter for this young prospect.

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Brady Ordway

I became a fan of combat sports when I was 12 years old. I was scrolling through the channels and landed upon Versus, where WEC was televised. Urijah Faber fought Jens Pulver for the second time that night. That's the first fight I ever saw, and I was immediately hooked. So eventually, I began covering the sport in the fourth quarter of 2018, and have since started writing about animals as well. If you'd like to see those pieces, be sure to check out learnaboutnature.com!

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