Carlos Prates Backs Former Rival to Dethrone Islam Makhachev
Carlos Prates would love to run it back with No. 2 welterweight contender Ian Machado Garry later this year.
For now, the Brazilian is set to fight Jack Della Maddalena at UFC Perth in May.
Prates had locked horns with Garry last April, where “The Future” secured a short-notice victory and snapped Prates’ unbeaten run in the UFC. However, “The Nightmare” didn’t let that lone setback derail his momentum for long. In his next two outings, he bounced back by knocking out Geoff Neal and Leon Edwards back-to-back.
Prates believes that after becoming the first man to knock out Edwards, if he can now hand the same fate to former champion Jack Della Maddalena next month, he would definitely be fighting for the welterweight belt next.
Carlos Prates wants to run it back with Ian Machado Garry once the Dubliner takes care of Islam Makhachev
Reigning UFC 170-pound champion Islam Makhachev is expected to fight Ian Machado Garry in August, and “The Nightmare” will be rooting for the Irishman if this bout comes to fruition. Prates wants “The Future” to dethrone Makhachev, after which the two have already discussed that they want to run it back this time in Brazil. During a recent interview with Guilherme Cruz, Prates said:
“I think that beating a former champion for the second time in a row and by knockout will lock in the title shot. Then there’s no one else for them to give the fight to but me. If eveything goes right and I win another bonus, that’ll be eight fights and seven bonuses. Come on, who else is there? Is [Michael] Morales going to fight? How? In what way? There’s no way. He has never beaten a former champion. The kid is undefeated, he’s good, but there is no way.”
Prates added that after the “JDM” fight, he does not want to enter the octagon again soon and will love to get enough time to focus on revovery before strarting training camp for a title fight. In the meantime, he wants Garry to dethrone Makhachev:
“I would rather let Ian Garry fight for the belt and then we will see what happens and I fight later…. I am rooting for [the belt] to change [hands] so Ian Garry and I can have our rematch for the belt… He [Garry] called me about three weeks ago and we have a plan: I beat Maddalena, he beats Makhachev, and then we do our rematch here in Brazil.”
Check out Carlos Prates’ comments below:
