UFC Vegas 106 marked a return to the Apex Center after four events on the road, delivering a solid card packed with finishes.

Gilbert Burns vs Michael Morales

Number 8 ranked Gilbert Burns attempted to keep the last hopes of seeing gold in his career alive when he took on surging undefeated prospect Michael Morales in the main event of the evening. Despite his legendary rouges’ gallery of opponents, from Kamaru Usman to Khamzat Chimaev, it seems like age had caught up to the 38-year-old Brazilian, who looked just a step behind Morales. Burns momentarily had light halfway through the first when he briefly got Morales to the mat, but Morales was able to quickly re-establish himself on the feet, landing heavy rights and lefts to put the former title challenger away. The sky is now the limit for Morales, who enters the top 10 of an absolutely loaded Welterweight division. Many are calling for a fight between him and fellow striking specialist Carlos Prates, a fight that would certainly provide some fireworks.

Sodiq Yusuff vs Mairon Santos

Sodiq Yusuff and Mairon Santos got a surprise co-main event slot, after Rodolfo Bellato vs Paul Craig was abruptly cancelled due to a late medical issue in the Bellato camp. No word on the details of Bellato’s circumstances at this point. Despite this, Yusuff and Santos did the dance in their place, resulting in a great showing for up-and-coming prospect Santos, who looked comfortable as he coasted to a unanimous decision. Commentator Michael Bisping called his style “Anderson Silva-Esque” a compliment with incredibly lofty expectations attached to it. Though I believe to the comparison to be a little too soon, it is certainly no doubt that Santos’s calm and technical style is deserving of high praise.

Also on the card: 

• Nursulton Ruziboev grabbed another win at Middleweight when he defeated Dustin Stoltzfus by unanimous decision.
• Melquizael Costa took home the fight of the night for his clash with Julian Erosa in which he won a unanimous decision and walked away with one of the strangest toe injuries you’ll ever see.
• Gabe Green defeated Matheus Camilo by rear naked choke submission in round 2 of the preliminary main event.
• Jared Gordon defeated Thiago Moises in round 1 via a spectacular KO.
• Yadier del Valle defeated Connor Matthews via rear naked choke submission in round 1.
• Luana Santos defeated Tainara Lisboa with a shoulder lock submission in round 2.
• Denise Gomes defeated Elise Reed by TKO in round 2 after scoring multiple knockdowns.
• HyunSung Park defeated Carlos Hernandez by rear naked choke submission in round 1
• Tecia Pennington defeated Luana Pinheiro by unanimous decision in the preliminary opener.

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