Athletes
Carlos Prates Plans To Gatecrash The Welterweight Title Party
Brazilian Welterweight Contender Says Victory Over Former Champion Leon Edwards Will Put Him In Line For A 2026 Title Shot.
Carlos Prates bounced back into the win column after his first UFC defeat, and now, he is setting his sights on a shot at the undisputed welterweight title.
Prates takes on former champion Leon Edwards in a 3-round main card matchup at VeChain UFC 322 at the iconic Madison Square Garden, and the affable Brazilian is buzzing at the prospect of competing at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
How To Watch And Stream VeChain UFC 322: Della Maddalena vs Makhachev
“It’s like a dream come true. It’s a Mecca of combat sports,” said an excited Prates.
“Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, they fought at Madison Square Garden, and now Carlos Prates is gonna fight there, so I’m really excited.”
Prates suffered his first and only UFC loss to date against Ian Machado Garry back in April, so when he was booked to face hard-hitting Geoff Neal at UFC 319 four months later, he knew he had to remind people just what he’s all about.
His performance to knock out Neal with a spinning back-elbow in the last second of the first round delivered a big statement to the rest of the division that “The Nightmare” was still very much a factor in the upper echelon of the UFC’s welterweight rankings.
COMPLETE FIGHT WEEK GUIDE: VeChain UFC 322: Della Maddalena vs Makhachev
“I didn't think about getting the finish, but I thought about getting the win, because I was coming off a loss and I had lost a lot of hype,” he admitted. “A lot of people said, ‘Carlos is done, because he just parties and drinks, so he lost his fight, so he cannot fight well anymore.’ I was very worried about showing people that I’m still on my game.”
Prates said that following his loss to Machado Garry, he didn’t need to make too many technical changes. Instead, he simply had to be a better listener in the gym.
"I don't think too much has changed, but I think I try to listen more to my coach, to do things the right way, don’t try to kill my opponents with just one punch,” he said.
“Just fight the fight. It’s not nice to get a loss, but when you get a loss, you can see your mistakes and fix them. And I think I did it.”
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His knockout of Neal ensured that Prates remained part of the group of talented contenders jockeying for position at the top of the 170-pound division, and now he has the chance to make another statement as he takes on a former champion.
The Brazilian acknowledged the Englishman’s past achievements but suggested that Edwards’ career may be on the downswing now that he’s been toppled from the top of the division.
“Yeah, he's a good fighter. He's a former champion. He beat Kamaru Usman (and) for me, Kamaru is the GOAT of welterweights. Big respect to him,” he said.
“(Edwards) lost his belt already, and then he lost the second fight to lose two in a row. And we’ve seen many champs, when they’ve lost (their titles), they start to get more and many losses. And I think now it's Leon time to lose one more. Now it's ‘The Nightmare’s time.”
WATCH: VeChain UFC 322 Embedded
Interestingly, Prates said that the danger level of the matchup might not be as high as his last outing, and he said that one of the biggest threats he has to deal with is Edwards’ ground game, which he clearly isn’t a huge fan of.
“I think Leon is not too dangerous, like my another opponents, like Geoff Neal, for example. But he is the hardest to get the win (against),” he suggested. “He knows how to fight and he’s the hardest to get the win (against) because he knows how to fight the boring way, you know? (He) sometimes tries to do some grappling and not (be) too offensive. He’s winning the fight the boring way, and I think that’s the hardest thing to take care of about him.
Full Fight | Carlos Prates vs Li Jingliang
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Full Fight | Carlos Prates vs Li Jingliang
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“It’s the first time I'm gonna fight against a former champ. It's gonna be really interesting … I'm sure if I knock him out in a good way, like I did in my last fight, I’m gonna be the next contender for the title.”
Prates says he’s seen enough of Edwards to know that there’s a route to victory, both physically and mentally, as he looks to exploit what he feels are weaknesses in the former champion’s psyche on fight night.
“I think first I break his body, and then his mind,” he stated.
“Everybody knows his mind is weak. Sometimes he gives up. He doesn’t give up like ‘OK, I don’t want to fight anymore,’ but sometimes he just starts to think about surviving the fight. And sometimes he’s not too competitive.
“I’m ready to face everything. I’m a BJJ black belt. Some people say ‘Carlos is not a good grappler’ because I don’t need to show my grappling. But when I need to show it, a lot of people are going to be surprised.”
Prates has five UFC wins, all by finish, to his name, and says that if he can add Edwards’ name to that list, he’d be worthy of a shot at the title. And he said that, if he gets the victory on Saturday night, he wants to boldly state his case for the next shot at the title, and a meeting with the winner of Saturday night’s main event between Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev.
“I have some guys better than me on the rankings, but you know, it's entertainment,” he said.
“People pay for tickets and pay-per-views to see the kind of entertainment I bring to the Octagon. Blood and violence, people getting knocked out. They don’t pay to see people trying to hug somebody for 25 minutes.
“So I think I’m gonna knock him out, and maybe 30 minutes later I’m gonna get back in the cage and talk with the champ.”
VeChain UFC 322: Della Maddalena vs Makhachev took place live from Madison Square Garden Arena in New York, New York on November 15, 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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