Gilbert Burns will return to action at UFC 315 on May 10th, 2025, where he will be facing rising star Michael Morales on the main card. The fight was originally supposed to take place a whole month earlier at UFC 314, but was delayed due to undisclosed reasons. It’s a very important fight for the welterweight division as both men are ranked, and it should have a big impact on the rankings no matter who wins. Burns is currently 8th and can earn a top five opponent if he wins, while Morales is 12th and should break into the top ten with a win over Burns.
It’s a particularly important fight for Burns, who is in a pivotal point in his career right now. He’s been a top UFC fighter for quite some time now but he’s riding a three-fight losing streak and is just a few months away from his 39th birthday. If he can beat Morales and put together two or three more wins after that then he might get one more shot at the title before he turns 40. On the other hand, very few fighters are kept on the UFC roster after four consecutive losses. His recent run of bad luck started back at UFC 288 in 2023, when he lost a unanimous decision to Belal Muhammad and suffered a shoulder injury in the process.
He took some time to recover but suffered a knockout loss in his return fight against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299 the following year. That marked the first time in his career that he had experienced back-to-back losses, and he dropped another decision to Sean Brady at UFC Fight Night 243 shortly after. He has been given a very unforgiving matchup against Morales too, as he’s one of the most promising contenders in the welterweight division right now. Morales has both a Judo and wrestling background, but it’s his fantastic striking that has earned him 12 knockout wins during his perfect 17-0 professional career.
Gilbert Burns announced the news that he was fighting Michael Morales at UFC 315 in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
