Welterweight contender Carlos Prates isn’t accepting the idea that he sits behind Ian Machado Garry in the title queue. The Brazilian striker told reporters he believes UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev sees him as the softer matchup — an assumption Prates plans to make the champion regret, per HITC and Times of India.
Prates’ message landed this week through multiple outlets covering the buildup to Makhachev’s first 170-pound title defense. “He thinks I’m easier than Ian Garry,” Prates said, as relayed by Times of India. The Brazilian argued the champion is overlooking his finishing power and underestimating the stylistic problems he’d bring at welterweight. Heavy.com framed the same comments as Prates accusing Makhachev of “looking past him” toward bigger names.
Reports in the multi-source pack have Ian Machado Garry as the frontrunner for the next welterweight title shot, with HITC noting several outlets have linked Garry to Makhachev’s first defense. No date, venue, or card has been announced by the UFC. Contract terms and bout agreements for either contender remain undisclosed.
The friction comes six months after Makhachev’s move up in weight. The Dagestani won the welterweight belt by unanimous decision over Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 on November 15, 2025, pushing his record to 28-1. It was his first fight at 170 after defending the lightweight title against Renato Moicano at UFC 311 in January 2025.
Running parallel to the welterweight talk, Yahoo Sports reports that former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, now at lightweight, has another opponent lined up before any crossover with Makhachev. Yahoo did not name the opponent in the snippet available, and the report has not been corroborated by other outlets in the pack.
What happens next is on the UFC. Garry holds the inside track per the reporting cited by HITC, but nothing’s been booked. Prates is using the media window to push himself as the more dangerous option. The promotion has not commented publicly on the order of contenders, and no official announcement on Makhachev’s first welterweight title defense has been made.
