Carlos Prates is laser-focused on Saturday’s big fight against Jack Della Maddalena, but if he wins, there’s only one thing in his eyes that makes sense.
Prates faces Della Maddalena in the main event of this weekend’s UFC Perth event. After knocking out Leon Edwards in his most recent bout at UFC 322 this past November, “The Nightmare” feels getting back-to-back victories over former world titleholders should put him over the top to fight for the UFC welterweight championship next.
“The title shot [is next],” Prates told MMA Fighting. “Because I’m going to beat two former champs in a row, you know? So yeah, nobody [else] did it. You have Morales, but he didn’t [beat] any former champ. You have Ian [Machado Garry], he’s going to fight now against Makhachev. So the next gonna be Carlos Prates.”
The welterweight division is quite interesting at the moment with Islam Makhachev still waiting for his title defense to be announced, with Morales and Garry at the top of the contender list.
Another name that has been calling for a title shot is former champion Kamaru Usman following his lopsided decision win over Joaquin Buckley at UFC Atlanta a little less than a year ago. Prates was asked if a fight with Usman could be next considering the magnitude of that opportunity, and with all due respect to Usman, Prates shut that down quickly:
“No, [Kamaru Usman doesn’t make sense], it’s going to be a title shot. No chance. After that fight, I’m just going to fight for the belt.”
The most intriguing name in the 170-pound title conversation is a man who has never competed in the division in the UFC: current lightweight champion and former 145-pound titleholder Ilia Topuria.
“El Matador” is set to defend his title for the first time against interim champ Justin Gaethje in the main event of the UFC White House card in June. Should Topuria get his hand raised, many believe he’ll vacate that title as well and move up to welterweight to face Makhachev.
Prates was asked how he would react to watching Topuria jump him, and the rest of the line for the belt, and his response was hilarious.
“OK, so then I go to the lightweights, I’m going to fight to the lightweight belt,” Prates said. “I can do 155. Of course, I can. Normally I have 85 kg, 84, so I can do lightweight. But I’m kidding.
“I don’t want to do too much diet anymore. But, yeah, let’s see. I’m not thinking about that, but let’s see. If it’s happening, I’m going to wait.”
