Fighters Only : UFC 314 Loses Major Welterweight Fight

Paul Browne

Mar 30, 2025

One of the most notable fights on the upcoming UFC 314 pay-per-view event on April 12th has been cancelled.

Brazilian contender Carlos Prates (21-6 MMA, 4-0 UFC) had been due to face Geoff Neal (16-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, but UFC officials announced on Saturday that Neal has sustained an undisclosed injury and the welterweight bout has been cancelled as a result.

Prates has recently entered the top fifteen at 170 pounds following an outstanding calendar year in 2024. "The Nightmare" racked up four consecutive knockout finishes inside the Octagon over Trevin Giles, Charles Radtke, Li Jingliang and Neil Magny, to go along with his impressive KO win over Mitch Ramirez on Dana White's Contender Series in 2023.

A win over Geoff Neal could potentially have helped the Brazilian break into the top ten, but it looks now as though he may have to wait a little longer for that opportunity.

Prates will not get a replacement opponent for UFC 314 and will instead be rescheduled to fight at another date. Interestingly, he teased a possible announcement on that front in a post on his Instagram account, saying: "News and good news coming soon!"

Despite losing the fight, UFC 314 is still stacked from top to bottom with exciting fights. The event is set to be headlined by the UFC featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) and Diego Lopes (26-6 MMA, 6-1 UFC), while Paddy Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) takes on former Bellator champion Michael Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) in the co-main event.