No drinking, no smoking, no partying \u2014 and somehow still not enough time.<\/p>\n
No. 1-ranked<\/a> Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight contender Carlos Prates was expected to challenge Islam Makhachev for the 170-pound championship in the UFC 336 main event<\/a> on Jan. 30, 2027, inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.<\/p>\n Prates wasn\u2019t particularly thrilled with the change.<\/p>\n \u201c@islam_makhachev, I\u2019ve been working for my dream to be a champion since I was 17 years old, and now you postponed it,\u201d Prates wrote on Instagram in Portuguese. \u201cI\u2019m No. 1. I knocked out two former champions, while Morales only beat Sean Brady.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou told UFC you won\u2019t be ready to fight in three months. Bro, you don\u2019t drink, don\u2019t smoke, don\u2019t party, and can\u2019t prepare for a fight in three months? Let me show you how it\u2019s done. January 30, I\u2019ll knock out Michael Morales, and then I\u2019ll come back to retire you.\u201d<\/p>\n Prates certainly has a point about his resume. Since suffering a unanimous decision loss to Ian Machado Garry, the Brazilian knockout artist has rattled off three consecutive finishes, including stoppage wins over former Welterweight champions Leon Edwards (watch highlights<\/a>) and Jack Della Maddalena (watch highlights<\/a>).<\/p>\n Makhachev \u2014 or perhaps whoever runs the champion\u2019s social media account \u2014 fired back by pointing toward their shared history with Garry.<\/p>\n \u201cI just beat the guy who chased you around the Octagon for five rounds,\u201d Makhachev wrote on social media. \u201cShut up and go train. You\u2019re not on my level. See you soon. #maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n UFC CEO Dana White was also less than pleased with Makhachev\u2019s decision to sit out.<\/p>\n \u201cOn average, Islam fights like one time a year,\u201d White said during the UFC 333 post-fight press conference. \u201cHe was slated for January and then said, \u2018I don\u2019t want to fight until after Ramadan.\u2019 You can\u2019t hold up divisions like this. You\u2019ve got to keep moving, and this fight makes sense. No reason.\u201d<\/p>\n First, Prates must get through Morales, who holds a perfect 19-0 professional record and is 7-0 inside the Octagon. If the chain-smoking Brazilian delivers another knockout in Toronto, his grudge match with Makhachev will become a title unification bout \u2014 with some added retirement threats thrown in for good measure.<\/p>\n