Athletes
Carlos Prates Is Just Getting Started
After Four Wins In 2024, Carlos Prates Believes He Can Break Into The Welterweight Title Picture With A Win At UFC Fight Night: Machado Garry vs Prates
In part since The Fighting Nerds have felt rather omnipresent for the last couple months, it’s surprising that Carlos Prates is approaching his first fight of 2025. The red-hot Brazil-based team rolled its massive momentum from 2024 into a showstopping start to 2025 between a trio of finishes from Jean Silva and Mauricio Ruffy, and in each appearance, the teammates who aren’t fighting—in this case Prates and Caio Borralho—are seen Octagonside celebrating each victory.
Prates, who was originally scheduled to fight Geoff Neal alongside Silva at UFC 314, had to switch gears when Neal suffered an injury. The mishap opened a fascinating door, however, which included a main event against fellow rising welterweight Ian Machado Garry in Kansas City. With the April 26 headliner just days away, Prates is as cool and unflappable as you’d expect from the 31-year-old.
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“It’s my work; I have to fight,” Prates told UFC.com. “No matter who, no matter how many times, short-notice or not, I just am training all the time, every day. I’m ready to fight tomorrow. After tomorrow, next month. I’m always ready.”
Confidence, although natural, is seeping out of Prates ahead of his biggest test to date. That’s what happens when you string together an 11-fight win streak dating back to December 2019. His last four efforts came during his rookie campaign in the UFC, and all ended in performance bonus-earning knockouts.
That scorching-hot form landed Prates atop UFC.com’s Best Newcomers of 2024 list. Proudly repping the Sao Paulo-based Fighting Nerds and his hometown’s Vale Top Team, Prates believes the best is still on its way, starting with his main event against “The Future.”
“I’m here, I’m knocking people out, I’m getting the bonus, really good performances, so I’m sure I’m ready to beat everybody in my weight division,” Prates said. “I have the best coaches. I’m living my best life, so I think I’m in my prime.”
WATCH: Main Event Preview | Carlos Prates' Career Highlights
If his work in 2024 wasn’t reason enough to hop on the bandwagon, Prates said he is now focused on living “as an athlete” and not just a fighter.
Translation: he is taking care of his body, which includes trying to cut down on his infamous smoking habits and fueling his body properly. Prates revealed he used to walk around at about 180 pounds, just nine pounds above the welterweight limit. Now, though, he said he walks around at about 198 pounds, packing on good muscle and filling out his 6-foot-1 frame nicely.
“We feel addicted to feeling good,” Prates said. “Before, I eat during the week a lot of pizza, hamburgers, things like that, and then I wake up at 8am to go to training. I was lazy or something like that. Now, with my nutritionist making me eat really good food, real food, then I wake up really good all week. I’m training hard, training really good. I grew up a lot. My health is going to be better, also.
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“Before I was doing a lot of stuff to my health, I was knocking people out, giving really good performances, but now it’s going to be much better.”
In his two most recent trips to the Octagon, Prates dismantled veteran mainstays Li Jingliang and Neil Magny, but in Machado Garry, he faces someone four years his junior who has welcomed one of the tougher strength-of-schedules and impressed along the way.
The Irishman opened his UFC account with eight consecutive wins, and those results, plus bulletproof confidence, led him to accept a short-notice opportunity against Shavkat Rakhmonov with a welterweight title shot on the line. Machado Garry fell short, but his effort in 25 minutes against a man who previously held a 100-percent finishing rate impressed many.
While both men profile as sharp strikers, history suggests distinctly different approaches. About half of Machado Garry’s wins have come via decision, including five in the Octagon. He is a sharp, mindful and tactical striker. Meanwhile, Prates has gone the distance just thrice, the last coming in December 2019, but “The Nightmare” isn’t fazed by the potential task of going 25 minutes at the highest level and predicts a finish in the third or fourth round.
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A win, Prates suggests, will leave him one win away from the increasingly crowded welterweight title picture. It’s a lofty expectation, but given the “good energy” flowing around The Fighting Nerds at the moment, it’s an understandable one. If 2024 was just a preview of what’s to come from Prates, then any fight fan worth their salt should be eagerly anticipating his first walk of 2025.
“I’m always ready,” Prates said. “Even when I’m fighting three rounds, I’m always training five rounds, so I’m ready. If you have to fight seven rounds or something like that, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to be fighting, and I’m going to get the win.”
UFC Fight Night: Machado Garry vs Prates took place live from T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri On April 26, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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