Welterweights
Michael Morales (13-0, 1-0 UFC) vs. Adam Fugitt (8-2, 0-0 UFC)ODDS: Morales (-600), Fugitt (+450)
He's still a proverbial lump of clay, but Morales is an intriguing prospect to watch. Signed off the Contender Series last year and still just 23 years old, Morales rose up the ranks of his native Ecuador and adopted home base of Mexico to get on the UFC's radar; as a result, that Contender Series bout was essentially Morales's first fight against a decent level of competition. Morales showed off a ton of natural talent and skills in that contract-earning win, but it was far from a clean performance, as Morales had to find a groove as the fight went on and overcome a slow start. Similarly, Morales's UFC debut in January against Trevin Giles was a rocky affair, as the Ecuadorian once again didn't look particularly comfortable until he suddenly found a knockout late in the first round. For his next test, Morales takes on a late replacement and UFC newcomer in Fugitt, who's a bit hard to read at the moment. If nothing else, Fugitt has the rare size to match Morales as a welterweight, but for most of his career he's looked like a plodding pressure fighter and not much of an athlete. But that all went out the window with his February knockout of Solomon Renfro; Fugitt was still physically overmatched, but looked in better shape and was much more aggressive, finding the finish in just 43 seconds. The performance was a promising sign, but it's still a bit hard to trust given that it's both an outlier and such a quick win - though it's also Fugitt's only fight since late 2019. If Fugitt keeps up that form he'll be a much more difficult test for Morales, but the Ecuadorian is still the much more dangerous athlete and should find a fight-ending moment sooner rather than later; the pick is Morales via first-round knockout.
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