Islam Makhachev’s manager has hit the brakes on the rumored Carlos Prates fight at UFC 336 in Toronto this January. Speaking to Ushatayka, in comments relayed by Championship Rounds on X, he said the matchup people have been passing around is nowhere near done:
“As of now, it’s not close to becoming a reality. It’s all just rumors and talk. Negotiations are ongoing, but confirming he’ll fight on a certain date and against a certain opponent is still far from realistic.”
Read that statement twice and you’ll notice what’s missing. Nobody said never. Nobody said Prates was off the table. He called the reports rumors and talk, then admitted in the next breath that the two sides are still at the negotiating table. So Toronto in January is unconfirmed and, per the guy who would actually sign off on it, unlikely as things stand today. Everything else is guesswork.
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Where Makhachev stands
Makhachev is the UFC’s reigning welterweight champion, as MMA Fighting noted this week, and he’s no longer grinding his body down to 155 pounds. His 17-fight UFC winning streak is the longest in company history, according to MMA Junkie’s numbers, ahead of Anderson Silva (16) and Kamaru Usman (15).
The lightweight run that got him here was absurd. He outpointed Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 in 2023 in a fight that won Fight of the Year, then knocked him out in Round 1 of a short-notice rematch at UFC 294 that October. At UFC 302 he choked out Dustin Poirier in Round 5. Poirier said on the Deep Waters podcast that Makhachev was so drained at the weigh-ins that people were helping him walk, then showed up on fight night with veins in his shoulders. Poirier’s reaction: “Who the f*ck is this guy? Where’d he come from?”
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That’s the guy Prates would be signing up for if the deal ever gets done.
The Volkanovski connection
Makhachev’s old rival has his own business first. Volkanovski defends featherweight gold against unbeaten Movsar Evloev (20-0) this Saturday at UFC 333 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, and he’s already been comparing the two Dagestani grinders. Speaking to Red Corner MMA, Volkanovski said, “I look at Islam, and I think he’s going to have the better grappling, better wrestling, better striking,” while still calling Evloev unique in his own right. He also told Kris Fade that he’s headed to Dagestan for two or three weeks with Makhachev, including horseback hunting and an episode of Cooking With Volk. Give me that content over half the fights on a Fight Night card.
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My take
I respect a manager who won’t let the internet book his fighter’s next fight, and I’d rather hear him say it’s not close right now than watch a fake poster fall apart in December. Still, his admission that talks are ongoing is doing a lot of work in that statement. The UFC wants a January date in Toronto, Makhachev owns the longest winning streak in company history, and somebody has to stand across from him. Until the promotion makes it official, Prates vs. Makhachev at UFC 336 is a rumor, and the manager just told you exactly that.
