Islam Makhachev has explained why he won’t be fighting Carlos Prates in January.
It had been widely speculated that Makhachev was set to make the next defense of his welterweight title against Prates in the main event at UFC 336, which takes place in Toronto, Canada on January 30.
During the UFC 333 broadcast on Saturday night however, the announcement came that Prates will instead take on Michael Morales for the interim title on that card, as Makhachev won’t be ready to compete.
Dana White appeared frustrated while speaking about Makhachev’s lack of activity when he spoke to reporters at Saturday’s post-fight press conference, and the champion has since come out to clarify his stance on the matter.
"Yes, Prates and Morales will fight to determine who is a true worthy contender, and I'll fight the winner," Makhachev told pound4padel.ru in Russian. "They offered me a fight with Prates, who recently lost to (to Ian Machado Garry), someone I beat. If I beat him, Morales would already be next in line, who's not fighting and waiting for (a title shot). Just let them fight, and we will figure out who's the real challenger."
Prates suffered the only defeat of his UFC career at the hands of Machado Garry back in April of 2025, but the Brazilian has since rebounded to wpick up stoppage wins over Geoff Neal, Leon Edwards and Jack Della Maddalena.
