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

CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISING:

Se Carlos Prates He was already on a high in the world's largest MMA organization and had a lot of support from the fans, now, with the show in UFC Perth, changed his career level. In the main fight of the 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 Cormierthe challenge against Islam makhachev It can be brought forward.

The MMA icon was so impressed with Prates' performance that he supported him in a possible move up the rankings in the category. It's worth noting that, at the moment, the race to win the belt is intense and... Ian Gary He is being seen as the most highly regarded athlete to face the Russian.

See too

Carlos Prates' coach responds to Makhachev and gives the green light for a UFC fight.

Makhachev rules out Ian Garry and signals a desire to face Carlos Prates in the UFC.

Carlos Prates analyzes the rematch against Ian Garry and guarantees a different outcome in the UFC: 'It won't last'

In fact, 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 knockout 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 thing: the division is very competitive. It seems like it will be…” Ian Gary"But what if it had been Prates after that?", said the MMA legend on his official channel on... 'YouTube'.

“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 years old, is one of the top Brazilian fighters currently active in MMA and is on the rise in the UFC. The fighter 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 modality, the academy member Fighting Nerds He built a record consisting of 24 wins, 22 by stoppage (19 by knockout and three by submission), and seven losses. His main victories were against Geoff neal, Jack Della Maddalena, Leon edwards, li jingliang e Neil Magny.