DUBAI – Javier Mendez touts Carlos Prates as a dangerous contender for Islam Makhachev.
All signs are pointing to welterweight champion Makhachev's (29-1 MMA, 18-1 UFC) next title defense being against Carlos Prates (24-7 MMA, 7-1 UFC), and it could be at UFC 336 on Jan. 30 in Toronto, which would allow Makhachev to get his wish of competing before Ramadan.
Mendez has been impressed with Prates' three-fight winning streak, which saw him stop Geoff Neal, Leon Edwards, and most recently ex-champ Jack Della Maddalena.
"He looked amazing against Jack Della," Mendez told MMA Junkie of Prates. "His precision striking, he has to be the most explosive, pin-point accuracy out of all the welterweights, in my opinion. His striking is superb, and his confidence is rising. His confidence is soaring really high. He looks like he's worked on his grappling defense, and he's anticipating this fight to happen."
Mendez has always been high on Makhachev's striking, and thinks he's capable of standing with anyone. He proved that when he dropped Ian Machado Garry with a head kick in his successful title defense at UFC 330. The American Kickboxing Academy head coach pointed to the biggest threat in Prates' striking.
"His knees in the range," Mendez said. "He uses his range extremely well – very good range and explosive. I like his Ricardo Mayorga-type persona where he's out smoking cigarettes. I don't know if that's his real person – maybe it is – but that reminds me of Ricardo Mayorga, the famous boxer. He used to do that all the time, smoking like crazy after the fight. Ricardo Mayorga was a beast, too. Prates is a beast and no way we can underestimate him. No way Islam will underestimate anybody because he knows everybody in the top, they can grapple, defense, offense, everything. They're good everywhere.
"So Carlos Prates, maybe his wrestling is one of his weaker points, but it's not weak. It's just one of his weaker points. His jiu-jitsu is top notch, so we have to be prepared for anything. We don't have to just take him down, unlike Khabib (Nurmagomedov). I know nobody can beat Khabib on the ground, and Khabib's standup was getting better and better all the time. But Islam's standup has been great for a long time, so don't sleep on Islam's standup, either."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Islam Makhachev's coach a fan of 'beast' Carlos Prates' Ricardo Mayorga-type persona