Carlos Prates is aware of what people think of his grappling, but he’s not concerned.
Prates (24-7 MMA, 7-1 UFC) has scored bonus-winning knockouts in his past three fights, most recently former champion Jack Della Maddalena at UFC Fight Night 275 this month.
Ian Machado Garry (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) appears to be next in line for UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC), even though Makhachev said he finds the Prates fight the most interesting.
“Bro, I think he said that just because he just thinks that I’m an easier fight than Ian Garry,” Prates told Daniel Cormier. “Not easier, but less hard because maybe Ian beat me. Leon Edwards took me down, (Della Maddalena) took me down, Ian Garry took me down one time.
“Maybe he thinks it’s going to be easy. But, when I fought these guys, I even didn’t care about takedowns. When JDM took me down, he tried to take me down, I didn’t even try to defend. I just opened my arms and smiled like, ‘What the f*ck is this guy doing?'”
Prates, No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings, acknowledges that No. 1 pound-for-pound Makhachev is on another level with his ground game, but the Brazilian hasn’t been submitted since 2014.
“Of course Islam is a very good grappler, but when I fought Ian, Leon, and JDM, I knew – bro, I’m a BJJ black belt,” Prates continued. “I’m good on the ground also. So, I know these guys aren’t going to finish me. Like I said, Makhachev is really good at grappling, but until now, everybody who took me down, I got up. Until I know, he’s not from another planet. He’s human like us so, let’s see if when he takes me down, I cannot get up.”
