Javier Mendez found out about the interim welterweight title fight the same way the rest of us did. Islam Makhachev’s longtime head coach told Submission Radio he had no idea the UFC was putting Carlos Prates and Michael Morales together for a belt, and when asked why his champion isn’t headlining the January card, Mendez couldn’t say. He also couldn’t rule out the possibility that an injury is involved.
“I would assume and this is me assuming because I haven’t spoken to Islam,” Mendez said, adding that he doesn’t think Khabib knows either. He was careful to frame it as a guess, saying “I don’t know, I have no idea” when it came to Makhachev’s health.
The announcement landed Saturday during the UFC 333 broadcast. For months, the expectation had been that Makhachev would open 2027 by headlining the first numbered event of the year, reported as UFC 336. Instead, the promotion went with Prates vs. Morales for an interim strap, and Prates wasted no time. He blasted Makhachev for keeping him away from the undisputed title and promised to retire the champion whenever he does come back.
Mendez’s first instinct was that the negotiations simply fell apart. “The first thing I thought was the UFC probably didn’t work out what they needed to,” he said, suggesting the promotion needed a strong fight for that date and built one. He pushed back on any idea that his fighter ducked anybody. “They can spin whatever they want but I know my champion,” Mendez said, insisting Makhachev’s only requirement has ever been enough time to train properly and that “he never said no to any opponent.” Whatever went on between someone he referred to as Ali and the UFC, Mendez said he doesn’t need to know and doesn’t care. “It just didn’t work out, but I know my man.”
The timing is awkward for Makhachev’s camp. At the UFC 333 post-fight press conference, Dana White took aim at the 34-year-old’s schedule, saying Makhachev is holding up the division by fighting roughly once a year. That criticism has followed the Russian champion for a while now, with title defenses coming once or twice per calendar year at most.
Makhachev himself has said that neither Prates nor Morales had separated from the pack enough to earn a shot at him. Well, now one of them gets to settle that with interim gold around his waist.
My take: the wildest detail here is a head coach publicly admitting he hasn’t talked to his own champion about why he’s sitting out a headliner. That tells you the information gap runs deep, and until Makhachev or his team says something on the record, the injury question stays open. Meanwhile, I’m thrilled. Prates vs. Morales is a fight I’d have paid to see with no belt attached, two dangerous strikers who both want the throne, and the winner walks out with a real argument that the champion has to deal with him next.
