Carlos Prates was supposed to fight Islam Makhachev in January. Instead he’s fighting Michael Morales for an interim title, and he went on Instagram Saturday to call Makhachev a coward for it.
The UFC 336 card is now official. Prates vs. Morales for the interim welterweight belt headlines in Toronto on January 30, according to Championship Rounds, with Joshua Van vs. Manel Kape also on the card. A day earlier, Championship Rounds, citing AG Fight, reported that Makhachev vs. Prates was off and that Makhachev was out of the main event he’d been slated to headline.
Prates didn’t take the news quietly. Championship Rounds posted his message:
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“You told the UFC you wouldn’t be ready to fight three months from now. Brother, you don’t drink, you don’t smoke, you don’t go to parties, and you can’t get ready for a fight in three months? 😂”
Then he laid out his plan for the next few months.
“Let me show you how it’s done. On January 30, I’m going to knock Michael Morales out, and then I’ll come back to retire you, coward!”
Dana White points at the calendar
Dana White didn’t sound thrilled about the delay either. Championship Rounds framed it as Makhachev giving the UFC no reason, though White’s own explanation pointed straight at the timing.
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“Islam fights like once a year. He was slated for January, and then said ‘I don’t want to fight until after Ramadan,’” White said. “You can’t hold up divisions like this. You gotta keep moving.”
That’s the promoter publicly saying a champion is clogging a division, which is how you end up with an interim belt on a January card in Toronto.
Makhachev’s camp responds
MMA Junkie reported that Makhachev responded after Prates’ coward remark. His manager, Ali Abdelaziz, did the heavy lifting on X, aiming a post at anyone in line for a title shot.
Abdelaziz called Makhachev the champion and “maybe the greatest fighter of this generation,” and he had advice for the challengers. “Talk less, because he’ll make you look bad,” he wrote. “None of you add to his legacy.” He added that Makhachev “fights for passion, love of the sport, and the fans.”
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The Makhachev camp didn’t offer a new date in any of the posts.
Quick take
I can’t stand interim belts, and this one exists because the champ didn’t want a January date. That’s White’s account, not mine. But I like how Prates is handling it. He lost the biggest fight of his life on short notice and didn’t sit around waiting for the champion’s schedule to open up. He took Morales, a dangerous fight in his own right, and told the champ exactly when he’ll be done with it. Abdelaziz telling contenders to talk less is a funny pitch, because talking is about the only leverage a contender has when the champion fights once a year. Prates has his date. It’s January 30 in Toronto, and Makhachev will be watching from somewhere after Ramadan.
