NEW YORK – It took Carlos Prates a little bit to get warmed up Saturday, but when he did, all was right in his world once again.
All that was left to do for Prates (23-7 MMA, 6-1 UFC) after he knocked out Leon Edwards (22-6 MMA, 14-5 UFC) in the second round of their welterweight fight at UFC 322 was fire up a cigarette to suck in the sweet taste of nicotine. Errrrr, the sweet taste of victory.
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Prates became the first fighter to knock out Edwards and just the second to put him away. The former welterweight champion lost the title to Belal Muhammad in July 2024, and earlier this year was finished for the first time when he was submitted by Sean Brady in the fourth round of their main event.
Edwards’ loss to Prates was his third straight, putting him likely years from a return to title contention. But Prates thinks his win should be one that gets him a crack at the belt – which was won by Islam Makhachev against Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC 322 main event.
“I’m the most entertaining guy in the welterweight division,” Prates said at his post-fight news conference. “I talked with Dana (White): Where’s my title shot? Of course, we’ve got the rankings, and I know there are some guys on top of me in the rankings, but it’s business. It’s entertainment. I bring the kind of entertainment people like to see.”
Prates has some immediate competition for asking for a title shot, though. Michael Morales (19-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) knocked out Brady (18-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) right after Prates’ win over Edwards. Both of them picked up $50,000 post-fight bonuses for their finishes.
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But things could get complicated because newly minted lightweight champ Ilia Topuria, a former featherweight champ, might want to go up one more time to challenge Makhachev for the welterweight belt. Topuria vacated his featherweight title to move up to lightweight, but Makhachev did the same to move to welterweight.
If it’s between him and Morales, though, Prates thinks he’s the guy.
“Michael is really good. He’s young. He’s a really strong guy. But I think I’m still more entertaining than him, and I think it’s my time,” Prates said. “I think (it’s better to fight him when I’m champ), but I can fight him whenever the UFC wants. Of course, I want to fight for the belt. But if the UFC says ‘You need to fight Michael – you guys need to fight in a semifinal’ and then go for the belt, then OK, let’s go. Let’s fight.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Carlos Prates wants welterweight title shot after UFC 322 knockout win
