Saturday's undefeated contender Michael Morales eliminated Gilbert Burns in the first round of the Las Vegas, a welterweight torch.

Morales (18-0) stopped Burns (22-9) in their middleweight main event at UFC Fight Night within the vertex. Morales suffered multiple burns from her top and eventually hit him along the fence.

Morales, 25, moved 6-0 in the UFC with four knockouts.

"Every battle was tough, but I was very nervous in the locker room," Morales said through an interpreter. "They told me, 'Believe in myself, believe in what I can do, believe in my potential.' We put our work in, my mother and grandmother told me to put heavy hands on him and the rest was easy."

It was a huge win for Morales, who was the 12th-ranked middleweight Saturday fight in the UFC. Burns is ranked eighth, but his position in the department remains high. Morales was born in Ecuador and now in Mexico and has never been exposed to an opponent of Burns' talent. Saturday was also his debut in the UFC main event.

Morales, however, showed no sign of any other nerve in the opening bell. He marked Burns with a punch earlier and hurt him on top hit percentage. Burns desperately made a hit, even ensuring a slow pace, but Morales calmly returned to work and eventually pulled out the final sequence along the fence.

Burns, 38, lost four players in a row, but the game was simply elite. His last three losses were against former champion Belal Muhammad, current champion Jack Della Maddalena and current No. 1 contender Sean Brady. Morales wants to prove himself the same as these categories and emphasizes himself.

Morales dedicated the victory to his mother, who attended on Saturday. His last two wins were first-round knockouts. He eliminated veteran Neil Magny in his "Night Show" appearance in August.