Carlos Prates believes Islam Makhachev would rather fight him than Ian Machado Garry: “Maybe he thinks it’s going to be easy”

Rising UFC welterweight contender Carlos Prates thinks Islam Makhachev would fight him next if he could.

Makhachev is the current 170-pound champion. He won the gold back in N0v. 2025 with a dominant unanimous decision win over Jack Della Maddalena, who Prates recently stopped in the third round. With Ian Machado Garry and Michael Morales waiting in the wings, Makhachev’s first welterweight title defense hasn’t been made official.

UFC Hall of Famer and color commentator Daniel Cormier uploaded an interview with Prates on his YouTube channel. Prates believes that Makhachev would prefer to fight him over Garry (via MMAJunkie).

“Bro, I think he said that just because he just thinks that I’m an easier fight than Ian Garry,” Prates said. “Not easier, but less hard because maybe Ian beat me. Leon Edwards took me down, (Della Maddalena) took me down, Ian Garry took me down one time.

“Maybe he thinks it’s going to be easy. But, when I fought these guys, I even didn’t care about takedowns. When JDM took me down, he tried to take me down, I didn’t even try to defend. I just opened my arms and smiled like, ‘What the f*ck is this guy doing?'”

Prates is currently the No. 2-ranked UFC welterweight. He is just behind Garry and ahead of the No. 3-ranked Morales. What the UFC brass will ultimately decide to do in terms of Makhachev’s challenger remains to be seen. Garry is the popular choice given his wins over Prates and Belal Muhammad, but Morales and Prates have had some exciting finishes in their recent outings.

BJPenn.com will keep you posted with updates on the next UFC welterweight title fight.

How far is Carlos Prates from earning a UFC Welterweight Championship opportunity? Will one more spectacular finish seal the deal? Join in on the conversation in the comments below.