Goodbye, Ian Garry? Impressed, Cormier supports Carlos Prates's attempt to jump the queue for the UFC belt: 'He's ready'

Prates promotes UFC event. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook/UFC

If Carlos Prates was already on a high in the world's largest MMA organization and had the support of fans, now, with his performance at UFC Perth , he has reached a new level in his career. In the main event held last Saturday (2), in Australia, the Brazilian showed no mercy to Jack Della Maddalena , former welterweight champion (up to 77,1 kg), and knocked him out in the third round. Thus, the striker came close to challenging for the belt, but, for Daniel Cormier , the challenge against Islam Makhachev may be brought forward.

The MMA icon was so impressed with Prates' performance that he supported him in a possible title shot in the division. It's worth noting that, at the moment, the race to win the belt is intense, and Ian Garry is seen as the most likely opponent to face the Russian.

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Furthermore, the Brazilian himself considers the fight between 'The Future' and champion Makhachev a certainty. However, Cormier believes that the member of the 'Fighting Nerds' academy has earned the status of number one contender, as he is riding a three-fight winning streak, including two wins against former champions Della Maddalena and Leon Edwards.

“This performance tells me two things. First: Prates is ready to fight for the UFC belt. Second: Prates has learned. I saw him fight at a level that tells me he’s ready for the champion. He’s ready to fight for the belt now. Here’s the question: the division is very competitive. It looks like it will be Ian Garry , but what if it were Prates after this?”, said the MMA legend on his official YouTube channel.

“Nobody would complain, and I’ll tell you why: we just saw Makhachev beat Della Maddalena. We saw him dominate to win the belt. The way Makhachev beat Jack wasn’t nearly as impressive as what Prates did. It was impressive. He made everything look easy, it was crazy. It looked like Della Maddalena shouldn’t have been there with Prates,” he concluded.

Prates' Fighters in MMA

Carlos Prates , 32, is one of the top Brazilian fighters currently active in MMA and is on the rise in the UFC. He began his career in the sport in 2012 and debuted for the organization in 2024. Currently, the striker is ranked second in the welterweight division.

In this discipline, the Fighting Nerds academy member built a record of 24 wins, 22 by stoppage (19 by knockout and three by submission), and seven losses. His main victories were over Geoff Neal , Jack Della Maddalena , Leon Edwards , Li Jingliang , and Neil Magny.

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