With four fights, four wins, four knockouts and four performance of the night bonuses, Carlos Prates is undoubtedly one of the breakout stars of 2024.
The Brazilian earned his spot on the UFC roster via a strong showing on Dana White's Contender Series in August last year.
Since then, he has finished Trevin Giles, Charles Radtke, Li Jingliang and Neil Magny in devastating fashion to earn himself a ranking.
In his post-fight interview this past weekend at the Apex following his first main event, Prates looked back on his incredible rise up the welterweight division:
"Bro, feeling awesome. You know, this year was so far, I hate to cry, was so far the best year of my life, of my career. Four fights in ten months, three bonuses of the night and it's a lot of hard work. Me and my team, my daddy Chris, special guys here with me, my boxing coach, they are here with me since from day one and also, Pablo and Flavio from Fighting Nerds. Man, I can't explain how happy I am right now."
Prates' striking previously earned him a comparison to Anderson Silva from Dana White and once again, it was on full display on Saturday night.
The 31-year old didn't even need to land clean on Magny, who is a very difficult opponent to finish, in order to get him out of there in the first round and he believes that his power comes from his years of hard work.
"I cannot say because it's secret. Ah bro I don't know, I think it's a lot of experience in Thailand, living, doing a lot of fights per month like sometimes six, four fights per month and more than 100 Muay Thai fights give me a lot of experience. I think that's the secret also and also every day, I come to the gym, train with those guys and they make me ready for everything."
Now that he has a ranking next to his name at 170-pounds, Prates is targeting some of the biggest names in the division.
It wouldn't be surprising given his exciting style and consistently brilliant displays inside the Octagon if he receives a big opportunity in the near future.
"To be honest, I think the perfect would be in Australia because you guys know, I have a daughter there and I really would love to visit her again and fight there in Australia against Jack Della Maddalena. Respect to this guy but I don't know if it's too far away because we have the ranking and things like that but against Jack Della Maddalena would be amazing but also, I think would be a really good fight against Geoff Neal."
Watch the full interview below:
