issue 219
July 2025
Carlos Prates opens up to E. Spencer Kyte about the pain, perspective, and pressure of tasting defeat after a multi-year unbeaten run, and why it might be the best thing that ever happened to him.
Six years of wins is a lot of time to build a sense of expectancy. Carlos Prates’s success had mirrored that of his three core teammates in the Fighting Nerds - Caio Borralho, Jean Silva, and Mauricio Ruffy - who had each amassed unbeaten records. The quartet had a combined 19-0 in the UFC with 13 finishes as the 31-year-old Prates headed towards his impromptu main event pairing with Ian Machado Garry. This is where the streak ended.
“It was a hard moment for me,” Prates said of his unanimous decision loss to Machado Garry in April. “Six years without any losing, and then I come to my second main event and I lose to Ian Garry. It hurt me a lot. But, also, I learned a lot of things. I’ve already fixed a lot of mistakes I did in the fight, I learned a lot, and now I think I’m a much better fighter. It’s weird to say that, but I think I’m better now than if I get the win. I think I’ve improved more.”
The bout played out pretty straightforward. Machado Garry used his movement and long-range weapons to keep Prates at bay. Addressing this may have been a tactical misstep, according to Pablo Sucupira, the head coach and architect of the Fighting Nerds team.
“Carlos went to the fight to knock Garry out,” says Sucupira. “And Garry went to the fight to win the fight, so if you look at it that way, it’s simple: we did the wrong plan because you should go to the fight to win, not just knock the other guy out. Since Carlos was in a streak of five knockouts in UFC and 11 wins straight with 10 knockouts, it’s hard to tell him, ‘You won’t knock the other guy out,’ because he was so confident in what he’s been doing for all that time. He was so sure he was going to find this knockout in five rounds, and if you see Garry, he was punching before Carlos could calibrate. He was punching not to knock Carlos out, just to take himself away. I think it was the day that the prey beat the hunter. Carlos was hunting all the time, but Garry was smart. Garry is a guy who knows how to fight against an angry guy, and he knows how to piss other people off. So, I think that was the trap. Carlos was a little bit angry with Ian Garry, and you shouldn’t be angry with him because he knows how to fight that, how to beat that. I think that was our main mistake.”
SHFTING GEARS
The loss halted Prates’ unbeaten run of the team’s ‘core four’ and set him behind the pack of emerging talents at the top of the welterweight division, each of whom feels less than two wins away from a title shot.
“When you talk about the new generation of guys running to the title, you have some names, and I think with my last defeat, I’m not right there right now when you talk about the title,” Prates acknowledged with a sigh. “When you talk about one or two fights, and then we can go to the title. But when I beat Geoff Neal, I think my name is gonna be back with those guys, in the middle of those guys.”
When asked about the lessons learned from his loss and the subsequent adjustments he’s made to his game, Prates remained vague. Sucupira was far more willing to share his insights.
“The most tricky part is that we can’t take out the happiness that he has fighting,” began the articulate coach. “If you try to make him a soldier, he got everything doing it his way: happiness, light spirit, so it’s like saying, ‘You’re not gonna smoke, you’re not gonna party.’ He was doing all that (while he was winning), so this balance is the most tricky thing to reach. You have to rebuild some stuff, have to understand, and take a step backwards, but we can’t lose his essence. He has to be who he is because that made him arrive here, so this is the tricky part. We’re trying to respect the essence of him, make him understand the game, the business, and I think he understood a lot and has new tools now. He’ll understand the point game, so if he loses the first round with Geoff, I think we’re gonna try to win the second one. But this being said, I think he will go for a knockout in the first minute.”
LOSING HURTS
And while no one likes to lose, Prates has acknowledged how the setback brought growth to his game. Sucupira appreciates the result on a macro level when it comes to the team.
“It’s really hard to say this, but it’s not healthy for a team to just win,” explains Sucupira. “So, with those four guys, we’d been on a 24-fight win streak. It’s unprecedented. I’ve never seen that before. When you’re in this sport, you need the victories, and you need the defeats to build you. It’s part of the construction of a team, of a fighter, and our team was missing a defeat. We needed that. I never want to lose, but I know the importance of a loss. So, I think not just Carlos, but the whole team evolved from that, was needing that. After the fight, Carlos got back to the drawing board. ‘Let me fix some stuff, let me understand more of my game.’ And I think he’s more of a complete fighter than he was.”
From here, it's clear that the team has learned a lot from this result.
“I never told them we’re an unbeaten team,” continued Sucupira. “I never considered Fighting Nerds an unbeaten team. We’ve had our losses. I consider the Fighting Nerds a team that evolves really well after a defeat, and the thing is, instead of ‘We have pressure, we need to win this one,’ I tell them, ‘We have an opportunity. An opportunity to show the world how good the Fighting Nerds are after a defeat, because they never saw this before, because you guys were always winning.’ Now it’s time to show them that if you beat us, we’re gonna come back much better. And I think it’s funny because Carlos lost the last fight, and he’s the first one to fight again.”
CHANGING FORTUNES
Indeed, the last one to fight is also the first of the group to compete in the back half of the year, as Prates ventures back into the Octagon at UFC 319 before Borralho and Silva headline back-to-back events in Paris, France and San Antonio, Texas, respectively, in September. With this matchup against Neal now booked for a second time, it means that Prates and his detail-oriented coach have had time to dissect his game to ensure a return to the win column.
“He’s a great fighter,” said Prates. “He’s a dangerous guy, strong guy, but I think that fight is really important to me because it’s gonna make me feel alive again. I’m just gonna go there and do what all you guys like to watch, all of what you guys are expecting to watch. A lot of punch, knees, kicks, and then I’m gonna knock him out and feel alive again, go on a run to the title.”
His coach offers balance to the bravado.
"Geoff is really tough,” said Sucupira. “He’s a hard guy. He’s like a rock. And he walks forward, punching really hard. I think it’s a more dangerous fight than Ian Garry, but it’s easier to win. You have to be more aware because he punches stronger, and he comes for the knockout, and because of that, it’s a dangerous fight, but also an easier fight to find the knockout.”
STRATEGIC SHIFTS
Sucupira doubles down on his comments about maintaining the essence of what has always made Prates successful.
“I don’t think we change too much,” he says. “We’ve been studying him a lot, and he doesn’t have too many holes in his game, but I think the biggest difference between Ian Garry and Geoff Neal is that Ian Garry is young blood. A guy full of hunger, and it’s hard to stop him. And Geoff Neal is a hard guy, but it’s kind of like his time has passed already. He’s kind of out of his peak. It’s a guy that if he doesn’t find the way to win, he’ll accept defeat easier than Ian Garry did. I think it’s still a hard fight, it’s gonna be fireworks. I’ll be tense in the corner, but I really think it’s time for Carlos. It’s the torch being passed to him.”
A passing of the torch on August 16th would be a nice prelude to the following day, when 32 candles will adorn Prates’ birthday cake, not that the dangerous welterweight is overly fond of the traditional sweet treats featured on such occasions.
“I’m not a big fan of cake,” smiles Prates. “I don’t like it too much. I prefer some pizza or something like that. Whiskey, cigarettes, party. Things like that.”
Six years of winning may have built the fighter, but one loss may have built the man who becomes the scariest version of Prates yet, because now that the streak is gone, what’s left may be even harder to beat.
