Carlos Prates is being talked about as the next man in line for the winner of UFC 330, where Islam Makhachev will face Ian Machado Garry. The timing matters because the result on Saturday, 15, could reset the race for the next title shot and put Prates at the front of it.
Prates, known as The Nightmare, has made that case in the cage. Since his UFC debut in 2024, he has fought seven times, won seven times and finished every victory by knockout. He also earned a Performance of the Night bonus in all seven wins, a run that gives the UFC a simple kind of pressure it likes: a fighter who ends fights fast and keeps getting attention for it.
The reason the path is drawing so much interest is not just Prates’s form, but what it could mean for Brazil. No Brazilian has won the UFC welterweight title at up to 77.1 kg, and Brazil has only one belt across the UFC’s 11 weight categories. That is why a Prates title run would carry more weight than a single matchup. It would be a chance to break a long-standing ceiling in one of the sport’s most watched divisions.
There is still a catch, and it is the one that keeps this from becoming a coronation. Prates is being discussed as the next challenger, but he is not guaranteed to be next in line. The UFC can change the picture from one night to the next, and that means the shape of the title race depends on what happens at UFC 330 and how the company reads the division afterward. Prates is also not entering the conversation on reputation alone: his only UFC loss came against Ian Machado Garry, the same fighter he may have to bypass through the title picture.
That is also why Islam Makhachev’s comments matter. He has already approved the idea of fighting Prates and called the matchup empolgante, while also referring to him as Bolo de Nutella. The label fits the larger picture around Prates: a dangerous finisher with a marketable identity, a streak of knockouts and a case that gets stronger each time he stops an opponent early. If UFC 330 goes his way, the winner could find Prates waiting next. If it does not, the door stays open, but it does not stay fixed.
Carlos Prates tops Ian Machado Garry's list for the next title shot:
