Carlos Prates Pleads Case For UFC Title Shot After Knocking Out Ex-Welterweight Champ

Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

Carlos Prates Pleads Case For UFC Title Shot After Knocking Out Ex-Welterweight Champ

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Zain Bando | Last updated May 3, 2026 10:30 AM ET

The UFC welterweight division has a new contender, and he's coming to make promotional history.

Following Carlos Prates' third-round TKO against former UFC Welterweight Champion Jack Della Maddalena in the main event of UFC Perth, the Brazilian called his shot Saturday morning.

Despite the UFC likely targeting a title shot for Ireland superstar Ian Machado Garry (who holds a win against Prates) against UFC Welterweight Champion Islam Makhachev this summer, Prates suggests his body of work outweighs Garry's.

Carlos Prates Stuns JDM At UFC Perth

“I should be next,” Prates told reporters following UFC Perth.

Prates said the knockouts speak for themselves, especially in the devastating fashion in which they came against the likes of Della Maddalena and fellow ex-champion Leon Edwards.

"Nobody beat two former champs in a really good way, you know?" Prates said. "They had never lost by knockout, and then I come in there and make it look easy."

Prates said the Garry fight shouldn't be weighed as heavily because of how competitive Rounds 4 and 5 were. Not to mention the fact, too, that Prates noted just how much of a contrast the vast majority of their respective UFC careers are.

"Against Leon, against JDM, I make it look easy,” Prates said. “I am next. Nobody did this. I will be the next [challenger]."

Prates said he plans to attend if Makhachev fights Garry in August. Prates turns 33 the same weekend the event falls upon, making it a possible worthy birthday present.

Carlos Prates Interested In Hometown Territory Ian Garry Rematch

Per Haljestam-Imagn Images

Prates said he and Garry have remained cordial since their fight in Kansas City last spring. In fact, in a recent conversation between the pair, they'd be down for a rematch in Brazil if Garry becomes the new champion at 170 pounds.

"We were talking about life, the fights, and he said, 'Hey brother, you need to beat JDM, then I'm going to beat Islam, and then we can do a rematch in Brazil. It would be amazing.'" Prates recalled.

With the UFC having never had a welterweight champion from the region, Prates is keeping this possibility in the back of mind if it were to come to fruition.

"I'm not sure if it can happen in Brazil, but of course it would be really cool to fight Islam because he is No. 1 pound-for-pound," Prates said about a title fight. "Of course, it's still business to do against Ian. He beat me, and I don't like that. We have respect for each other. We talk a lot."

Prates certainly has a case, and based on an optimistic interaction with UFC CBO Hunter Campbell, it's a matter of when, not if, Prates gets his opportunity at welterweight glory in the near future.

For now, only time will tell.