Prates and Morales clash at press conference as interim welterweight title fight takes shape

Carlos Prates and Michael Morales required Dana White’s intervention to separate them during a charged faceoff at the joint UFC 335 and UFC 336 press conference in New York City on Friday, underscoring the stakes of their interim welterweight title clash scheduled for Jan. 30 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

The two fighters are competing for the right to challenge undisputed welterweight champion Islam Makhachev, and neither appeared willing to wait. While neither man was overtly disrespectful, the competitive tension between them was unmistakable — a sharp contrast to the other matchups on the dais.

Charles Oliveira and Diego Lopes, who meet in the BMF title fight main event of UFC 335, embraced before their faceoff, while light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and Sergei Pavlovich — set for a five-round heavyweight co-main event — kept things entirely cordial. Prates and Morales provided the afternoon’s only genuine friction.

The press conference also served as the primary promotional vehicle for UFC 336’s co-main event after flyweight champion Joshua Van missed the event, leaving challenger Manel Kape without an opponent to build tension with ahead of their title fight.

UFC 335 takes place on Dec. 12 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with the Oliveira vs. Lopes BMF title fight headlining. UFC 336 follows on Jan. 30 in Toronto, where Prates and Morales will settle who earns the next shot at Makhachev.