"LET THEM FIGHT": Makhachev Explains Why He Passed on Prates

Islam Makhachev says Carlos Prates lost to a man he already beat, so Prates and Michael Morales should settle who the real challenger is first.

Islam Makhachev has finally given his own reason for saying no to January. The welterweight champion confirmed he was offered Carlos Prates, and he turned the fight down.

His logic is blunt. Prates recently lost to Ian Machado Garry, a man Makhachev has already beaten. Michael Morales, meanwhile, was already waiting for his shot.

"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 on Sunday.

"They offered me a fight with Prates, who recently lost 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."

That is the champion's answer, in his own words. Not a scheduling mystery. A pecking order, as he sees it.

Prates Fires Back

Prates did not take it quietly. In an Instagram post on Saturday, after the UFC announced the Morales fight, he tore into the champion.

"Islam Makhachev, I've been working toward my dream of becoming a champion for 17 years, and now you've postponed that," Prates wrote in Portuguese, as translated by MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz. "I'm the No. 1 (contender). I knocked out two former champions, while Morales has only beaten Sean Brady."

He went further. "You told the UFC you wouldn't be ready to fight in three months. Brother, you don't drink, you don't smoke, you don't party, and you can't get ready for a fight in three months?

"Let me show you how it's done. On Jan. 30, I'm going to knock out Michael Morales, and then I'll be back to retire you, you coward."

Prates's Case

Since losing to Garry, Prates has won three straight by knockout, stopping former champions Jack Della Maddalena and Leon Edwards and veteran Geoff Neal, per MMA Junkie. That run is his case for the shot he says he already earned.

The Champion Hits Back

Makhachev answered on X, and he did not soften a word of it.

"I just beat the guy who chased you around the Octagon for five rounds," Makhachev wrote, referring to Garry. "Shut up and go train. You're not on my level. See you soon. Maybe."

That is now the shape of this division: a champion watching from above, and two contenders left to sort it out below him. The trash talk is not a sideshow here. It is the title picture talking out loud.

White's Context, Not the Lead

Dana White had already framed the decision at the UFC 333 post-fight press conference. "On average, Islam fights like once a year," White said. "He was slated for January and then said, 'I don't want to fight until after Ramadan.' You can't hold up divisions like this. You gotta keep moving, and this fight makes sense."

White's words explain the interim belt. Makhachev's words explain why he thinks Prates, specifically, has to wait. Both can be true at once, and the article keeps them separate: White's account is White's, and the champion's reason is the champion's.

What January 30 Decides

Prates meets the unbeaten Morales for the interim welterweight title in the UFC 336 co-main event on January 30, 2027, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Morales is 19-0 overall, with seven of those wins in the UFC, per QNC News.

The headliner is a flyweight title fight: champion Joshua Van defends against Manel Kape. First odds are out from BetOnline via Sherdog: Van -115 against Kape -101, and Prates a -130 favorite against Morales at +111.

Ramadan runs from February 7 to March 8, 2027.

The Return Window

Commentator Jon Anik said during the UFC 333 broadcast that the UFC plans for Makhachev to return between May and July 2027 against the Prates-Morales winner, per F4W/WON.

So the deal is set, and it is Makhachev's deal. Prates and Morales fight for the right to be called the real challenger. The champion fights the winner. And on January 30, one of them gets to walk out of Toronto holding the interim belt and a date with the man who just told him to go train.