Carlos Prates and Michael Morales will fight for the interim UFC welterweight title at UFC 336 on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2027, in Toronto. Championship Rounds broke the booking on X on Oct. 24. The interim belt exists because champion Islam Makhachev said he didn’t want to compete on the card, which is the first numbered event of 2027 and streams on Paramount+.
Dana White didn’t sound thrilled about the champ’s calendar. According to a clip shared by Championship Rounds, White said Makhachev didn’t give the promotion a reason beyond timing: “Islam fights like once a year. He was slated for January, and then said ‘I don’t want to fight until after Ramadan.’ You can’t hold up divisions like this. You gotta keep moving.”
Prates, who was supposed to be the guy across from Makhachev, took it about as calmly as you’d expect from a man who just knocked out two former champions. In a message posted to Instagram and circulated by Championship Rounds, he said: “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? 😂 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!”
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The Resumes
Prates (24-7 MMA, 7-1 UFC) is No. 4 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings, per MMA Junkie. The 33-year-old Brazilian’s only octagon loss came against Ian Machado Garry in April 2025. Since then he has knocked out Geoff Neal, Jack Della Maddalena and Leon Edwards in succession. Three straight knockouts, two of them over former champs, is how you get a title shot without anybody arguing about it.
Morales (19-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) sits at No. 2. The 27-year-old Ecuadorian has finished his last three opponents (Neil Magny, Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady) all in Round 1. The Brady knockout came at UFC 322 in November 2025, and he hasn’t fought since. By fight night that’s roughly 14 months on the shelf.
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The interim title bout co-headlines the card. THE MMA GURU posted on X that Joshua Van vs. Manel Kape is also official for UFC 336.
The Odds
DraftKings has Prates at -175 and Morales at +145. Translated, the book is asking you to believe Prates wins about 64% of the time, while the Morales price implies roughly 41%. That’s a modest favorite, the kind of line that tends to move once the public decides which highlight reel it likes better.
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Sal’s Take
I usually grumble about fighters coming off long layoffs at short odds, but Morales is the one with the 14-month gap and he’s the guy getting plus money, so the usual complaint flips around. You’re being paid +145 to back an undefeated 27-year-old who has ended three straight ranked opponents in Round 1, against a 33-year-old who has been in a string of high-pressure fights. Prates deserves the favorite tag on form. The Morales number is the one I’d stare at, and I’d want it before the hype from that Instagram post pushes Prates any shorter than -175.
