After his spinning elbow knockout at UFC 319, what’s next for Carlos Prates?

That said, I’m sure he thought there’d be a different winner. Neal had moments in the first round, but it was Carlos Prates who was pulling away with a very diverse striking attack. Prates was mixing up his levels and his attacks beautifully.

Just before the end of the round, Prates landed a nice body shot and then he spun. His elbow cracked Neal on the top of the head and then he crashed to the canvas. The referee stopped the fight and Prates secured the massive knockout win at UFC 319.

What’s next after UFC 319?

This was such a huge win for Prates who really needed this one in order to bounce back. Earlier this year, Prates was very tentative in his first main event against Ian Machado Garry and that ultimately cost him the fight. He nearly finished Garry at the end but it was a little too late.

There was no tentativeness at UFC 319 and he got the knockout win. After his win, he called for a fight with Leon Edwards and he wants it to be at UFC Rio in October. While I’m not sure the Edwards matchup happens, Prates will be fighting in Rio unless something happens and Dana White confirmed that.

Michael “Venom” Page expressed interest in fighting Prates and Prates also said he’d be down for that matchup. Another name to watch would be Joaquin Buckley and if Buckley’s healthy, I think he would absolutely step in to face Prates in Brazil.