- Michael Morales has opened as a heavy -500 betting favorite against Adam Fugitt at UFC 277.
- Fugitt will be replacing Ramiz Brahimaj who withdrew from his fight with Morales due to undisclosed reasons.
- Morales is undefeated in 13 bouts while Fugitt has won four fights in a row heading to UFC 277.
Michael Morales will be a heavy betting favorite when he stakes his unbeaten record against late replacement Adam Fugitt.
Morales opened at -500 odds when the top UFC sportsbooks first released the betting odds for his Saturday bout against Fugitt, who came back at +385 odds:
UFC 277: Pena vs. Nunes 2:
Adam Fugitt (+385)
Michael Morales (-500)https://t.co/7iy5epVQfw #ufc277— BestFightOdds (@BestFightOdds) July 24, 2022
Morales was supposed to fight Ramiz Brahimaj in the prelims undercard of Saturday night’s UFC 277 in Dallas but the latter withdrew from the event.
Michael Morales Remains Undefeated
UFC 270 results: Michael Morales remains undefeated with stunning first-round finish over Trevin Giles (@DamonMartin) https://t.co/B60adJMSpl pic.twitter.com/KFV1eU2X89
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) January 23, 2022
Morales will be making his second Octagon appearance on Saturday night. The 23-year-old from Pasaje, Ecuador knocked out Trevin Giles inside one round at UFC 270 last January 22nd in an auspicious UFC debut that kept him undefeated as a professional mixed martial artist.
A former national champion in freestyle wrestling and Muay Thai, Morales began his professional MMA career with Oro Fighting Championship, Pasaje Combat, Barbarians Fighting League, Extreme MMA, and UWC Mexico. He appeared in the Contender Series 2021 week 4 show and defeated Nikolay Veretennikov to earn his UFC contract. Overall, he has a record of 13-0 with 10 knockouts and one submission victory.
This will mark the second time in three recorded bouts where Morales has opened with the minus money sign written next to his name. The Ecuadorian was the -120 betting favorite when he fought Giles in his UFC debut. That came after he closed at +173 odds when he fought at the DWCS Week 4 event in 2021.
Adam Fugitt Got the Call of a Lifetime
Adam Fugitt got the call of a lifetime last Wednesday, July 20 letting him know he’d been signed to the UFC. Fugitt says he was in shock when he got the call, but he’s ready to fight at his best. https://t.co/N8c5ZLkxHi
— KEZI 9 NEWS (@KEZI9) July 27, 2022
Fugitt got the call of his lifetime last Wednesday when the UFC phoned him and told him that he would serve as a last-minute replacement for Brahimaj who withdrew from his fight with Morales. Fugitt said he was shocked when he got the call but said anyway because fighting in the UFC was always his dream.
The 33-year-old from Eugene is a former X1 World Events welterweight champion who has been fighting since 2016. He began his MMA career with Prime Fighting, Rogue Promotions, X1, and LFA. Fugitt has not lost since September 2018 when he was knocked out in the first round by Kailan Hill at LFA 51. Overall, he has a record of 8-2 with four knockouts and three wins via submission.
In his last bout, Fugitt stopped Solomon Renfro at LFA 125 last February 22, entering the bout as the heavy +400 betting underdog after opening at +130 odds. On Saturday night, he will need to defy the odds once again as he is currently priced at the +400 to +450 range, depending on which of the top UFC sportsbooks you are looking at.
