‘The Nightmare’ Lays Out His Title Shot Plan Ahead of UFC Perth

With only a few days before his main event fight at UFC Perth, Carlos ‘The Nightmare’ Prates spoke in an interview on Wednesday with Mike Bohn discussing his foreseeable future in the Welterweight Division. The fighter detailed what his path to the welterweight title should look like, in the event that he beats Jack Della Maddalena this Saturday. Their discussion somewhat confirmed the rumors that the current champion of the division, Islam Makhachev, will be defending his belt against Ian Machado Garry in August, with Prates stating that he will then fight the winner of the bout after that. The Brazilian fighter has the confidence and determination of a champion, but his claims do not exactly prove that he will be next up.

While Prates certainly has a reasonable case for being next in line, he still has to get through Maddalena, a very skilled striker who is dominant in the stand-up game. Their upcoming fight is a five-round main event that is sure to be exciting for the fans, especially with it being on Maddalena’s home turf. Moreover, Prates also has elite striking and a great resume thus far in the UFC, having knocked out his last two opponents. ‘The Nightmare’ has all the momentum going into the fight on Saturday since his Australian opponent recently had an embarrassing loss to Makhachev at UFC 322 last November. As many fans had noted after that fight, Maddalena looked physically and mentally defeated as he was outmatched on the ground by Makhachev. Prates comes into this fight as someone with everything to prove to the fans and the company that he is a championship fighter.

Even if things pan out for Prates this weekend, there is still fierce competition for title shots in the Welterweight Division that is hard to overlook. One fighter who fans would argue also deserves a shot is Michael Morales, an Ecuadorian fighter who is currently undefeated and ranked third in the division. Morales also has three knockouts in his last three fights, which would certainly boost his chances over Prates for a title fight. Nevertheless, ‘The Nightmare’ is still hopeful that a dominant win this weekend could put him much closer to a welterweight championship fight in the near future.