Carlos Prates has a new sparring partner, and it’s Islam Makhachev’s manager. Ali Abdelaziz went after the Brazilian welterweight on X this week, and Prates answered by questioning whether the champion still has the fire to fight at all.
Abdelaziz started it. “If you’re a contender,” he wrote, before laying out his case: “Islam is the champion and maybe the greatest fighter of this generation. Talk less, because he’ll make you look bad. None of you add to his legacy. He fights for passion, love of the sport, and the fans.”
That last line was a gift. Prates, known as The Nightmare, fired back on X on October 27. “If he fights for passion, he would fight the number 1 contender in January,” he wrote. “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.”
The January in question is UFC 336, set for January 30, 2027 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. According to reports cited by Essentially Sports, the UFC wanted Makhachev to defend the welterweight title against Prates on that card. The fight never got officially announced. Reports of Makhachev’s withdrawal surfaced just before the UFC’s big Abu Dhabi event, and then the promotion revealed at UFC 333 on October 24 that Prates would instead face Michael Morales for the interim 170-pound title. That fight is now the co-main event in Toronto.
Makhachev later explained that the division seemed to lack a deserving No. 1 contender, and that played into his decision to pass on January. Dana White wasn’t thrilled. At the UFC 333 post-fight press conference, White criticized the champion and said he can’t keep a division waiting like that. Makhachev has drawn heat for averaging roughly one fight a year as champion. Still, Prates is the first person to openly question his passion.
This is also round two of the online feud. Right after the interim fight was booked, Prates went off on Instagram, saying he’d spent 17 years chasing a title and that Makhachev had postponed his dream. He pointed out that he has knocked out two former champions while Morales has only beaten Sean Brady. Then he went for the throat: “Brother, you don’t drink, you don’t smoke, you don’t party, and you can’t get ready for a fight in three months?” He closed by promising to knock out Morales on January 30 and then come back to retire Makhachev, calling him a coward.
Makhachev answered on X by bringing up Ian Machado Garry, who beat Prates in 2025 and later lost to Makhachev. “I just beat the guy who chased you around the Octagon for five rounds. Shut up and go train. You’re not on my level. See you soon. #maybe,” he wrote. That hashtag is either very funny or very telling, and probably both.
My take: Abdelaziz handed Prates the easiest comeback of the year. You can’t say your guy fights for the love of the sport and the fans in the same breath as explaining why he’s skipping the fight the fans wanted. Prates gets to play the hungry challenger, and I love a guy who calls his shot this loudly. He has to cash the check first, though. Morales is no warm-up, and every word Prates has typed this month turns into a punchline if he loses in Toronto on January 30.
