Interim belts usually make me roll my eyes. Too often the UFC hands one out because a champion is hurt for six weeks, the promotion needs a poster, and the result is two belts, two so-called champions and a unification fight nobody asked for. So it’s saying something that I think Carlos Prates vs. Michael Morales for the interim welterweight title at UFC 336 is good matchmaking. Jack Della Maddalena, a man with every reason to be grumpy about all three people involved, thinks so too.
Della Maddalena spoke to Bedtime MMA this week (as transcribed by MMA Junkie and MMA Mania), and his read was refreshingly free of sour grapes. “I think it’s a great fight,” he said. “I think it’s good for the division. I would think Prates is next in line, so I think it’s a good fight. It clears up the division, it shows who the No. 1 contender is, and it’s good timing.”
He’s right, and the reasons are on the calendar.
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Why this interim title makes sense
Islam Makhachev (29-1, 18-1 UFC) was supposed to defend against Prates at UFC 336. He declined, according to Yahoo Sports and MMA Junkie, and MMA Mania framed it as another extended break for the champion. Della Maddalena expects Makhachev to stay out until around June. MMA Mania has him returning in mid-2027. Either way, that’s a long time for a stacked division to sit on its hands, and every ranked welterweight is stuck waiting.
That’s the situation where an interim title earns its keep. Prates is ranked No. 1. Morales is No. 3. Prates was already the guy Makhachev was meant to face, so the UFC isn’t inventing a contender out of thin air. Morales gets the chance to prove he belongs in that slot instead of waiting another half year for a ranked opponent to agree to a date. The winner walks into a Makhachev fight with no argument left to make. That’s the “clears up the division” part, and it’s the whole point.
The alternative would have been worse. Prates sits, Morales takes a lateral fight against someone ranked below him, and come summer we’re debating who deserves the shot while the champion picks. Here, the debate ends on Jan. 30, 2027, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
The view from someone who’s been hit
What makes Della Maddalena’s take worth more than the usual fighter-on-a-podcast endorsement is his recent history. Makhachev took his title at UFC 322. Prates then knocked him out, brutally, in the UFC Perth main event in May. Back-to-back losses, a needed break, and now he’s back in the gym without a booking. He’s floated Mike Malott as a possible next opponent, though nothing is set.
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So when the former champ says “I would think Prates is next in line,” he’s conceding the point to the guy who just put him down. Plenty of fighters in that spot would call the matchup a cash grab or demand a rematch. He did neither.
He also wouldn’t pick a winner, which I respect even if I won’t copy it. “I don’t know who’s going to win,” he said. “I feel like Prates probably has more tools to get the win, but Morales is a big, powerful guy with a different sort of size.”
That’s a precise way of describing the problem. Prates (24-7, 7-1 UFC) has the deeper résumé and the more varied offense, which is why he opened as a slight favorite. Morales (19-0, 7-0 UFC) has never lost, and the size note matters coming from someone who has stood across from both Prates and Makhachev. Della Maddalena has felt welterweight bodies at the top of the rankings. If he’s flagging Morales’s frame as something different, I take that seriously.
My pick
I’ll take Prates. The “more tools” line is the tiebreaker for me. An unbeaten fighter with size can win plenty of fights on physicality, but a title-level opponent who can hurt you in multiple ways forces you to solve more problems for longer, and 7-0 in the UFC doesn’t tell you how Morales handles a guy ranked No. 1. Prates has already shown he can finish a former champion in a main event. That’s the more proven skill set at the top of the division.
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I also wouldn’t put real money on it. The opening line is close for a reason, and Morales’s record means nobody has found the answer yet.
The flyweights, by the way, get the headliner. Joshua Van defends against Manel Kape in a five-round title fight that MMA Mania notes is another near pick’em by the opening odds. A flyweight title fight on top of a card in Canada with a welterweight interim belt underneath it is the kind of billing I’d like to see more often. The rest of the card hasn’t been announced, so expect bouts to trickle out over the next few weeks before Jan. 30.
