Carlos Prates has publicly said he has an agreement in place with the UFC to challenge welterweight champion Islam Makhachev next, pending a date and location, and his teammate Jean Silva is confident that Prates will be the one to bring the 170-pound title back to Brazil.
Prates became the welterweight contender after finishing former champions Leon Edwards and Jack Della Maddalena in his most recent appearances. The Russian talent became welterweight champion with a dominant decision victory over Maddalena, and recently defended his throne for the first time against Ian Machado Garry.
Silva, who is now close to a shot at the featherweight belt after finishing Jose Delgado in September to improve to 7-1 in the promotion, aiming to face the winner of Alexander Volkvanovski vs. Movsar Evloev, believes that Prates has the power to become the one to end Makhachev’s dominant reign — especially after watching Makhachev’s performance against Ian Machado Garry.
“He stood to trade with Ian Garry, because Ian Garry doesn’t have the kind of knockout power that Prates has,” Silva told MMA Fighting. “He’s not going to stand and trade with Prates. That’s a huge advantage for Carlos Prates, because he knows that the moment he lands his hand, the fight is over, It’s five rounds. I doubt he can go five rounds without taking a big shot from Prates.”
Silva and Prates train together at Fighting Nerds in Sao Paulo, and their heavier teammate Caio Borralho is also moving up the rankings looking for a shot at the 185-pound gold.
For Silva, the success of the team in the UFC is not a surprise.
“It’s about knowing that proper planning, within the realm of reality, works,” Silva said. “It shows that the more people sit down and study, the more we can accomplish things that nobody has done before. It’s pretty crazy to say that, but it’s not a surprise like, ‘Damn, we’re going to fight for the belt.’ We weren’t just walking down the street and stumbled upon a million dollars. No, we worked to earn a million dollars. That’s normal.”