Carlos Prates has answered Ali Abdelaziz, and he didn’t bother being polite about it. Responding to the manager’s argument about Islam Makhachev’s legacy, Prates said he has no interest in becoming another line on the champion’s résumé. He wants to be the last one.
“If [Islam] fights for passion, he would fight the number 1 contender in January. I will not add anything on his legacy, I will finish his legacy brother, and also, he will make me look great. Mark my words.”
Championship Rounds circulated the message on X late Tuesday, and MiddleEasy described it as a written challenge aimed at Makhachev after Abdelaziz dismissed the contenders being lined up for him. Prates’s interim title bout at UFC 336 is still booked, MiddleEasy noted, so this is a man calling out the champion while he has a fight of his own on the calendar.
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How it got here
The January date is the sore spot. The UFC offered Makhachev a fight with Prates, and he passed. Dana White said Makhachev gave no reason for the decision, according to a clip shared by Dovy on X on Saturday. A day later Makhachev supplied one himself, in comments relayed from Instagram.
“They offered me a fight with Prates, who recently lost to [Ian Garry], someone I beat. If I beat him, Morales would already be next in line, who’s not fighting and waiting for [a title shot].”
He followed it with a suggestion: “Just let them fight and we will figure out who’s the real challenger.”
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That’s a reasonable argument if you squint. Prates’s most recent loss came against Garry, and Makhachev has already beaten Garry, so from the champion’s chair the matchup reads like a rerun. Michael Morales, by Makhachev’s account, is sitting out and waiting for a title opportunity, which means beating Prates would only lead straight to another challenger.
Prates has also had words for Morales. In an Instagram post shared by Dovy on X, he brushed off any worry about the matchup and said he wouldn’t need more than two rounds to knock Morales out, capping the line with an insult for good measure.
Makhachev turned 35 on Tuesday, the same day this round of back and forth picked up steam.
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Quick take
Makhachev’s logic holds up on paper, and I can’t fault a champion for wanting to fight the man who has actually earned the next shot. But turning down a contender because he lost to somebody the champion already beat is the kind of reasoning that lets a champion skip anyone he likes, and White saying Makhachev offered no explanation at first doesn’t help the optics. Prates has the better soundbite here, though soundbites have never been what beats Makhachev. The surest way for Prates to force this fight is the one already on his schedule: win the interim belt at UFC 336, and win it in the two rounds he keeps promising.
