Prates' coach predicts second-round finish over unbeaten Morales at UFC 336

Carlos Prates’ long-time coach Cristian Nogueira has predicted his fighter will stop unbeaten Ecuadorian Michael Morales inside two rounds when they clash for the UFC interim welterweight title at UFC 336 on January 30 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

Prates enters the fight at 24-7, while Morales carries a perfect 19-0 record into what will be the biggest night of his career. Nogueira, who heads Vale Top Team and has trained Prates since the age of 11, told Sherdog he respects Morales as “a different animal” but believes the unbeaten contender’s aggressive style creates exploitable openings.

“Morales tends to leave himself very exposed because he goes all-in, and that works in Prates’ favor,” Nogueira said. “We have five rounds to work with, but I believe Carlos will finish him somewhere between the middle and the end of the second round.”

The matchup came as a surprise to the camp. Nogueira revealed they had been preparing for a fight with undisputed lightweight champion Islam Makhachev before the Morales bout was confirmed, and that the training plan has since shifted accordingly.

“It came as a surprise to us because we thought we would fight Makhachev first and then Morales,” Nogueira said. “We had already been planning the training camp to face Islam on January 30, but no problem. The important thing is that this fight will be for the belt.”

The key tactical adjustment, Nogueira explained, is a greater emphasis on footwork over takedown defence. “The main change will be in movement,” he said. “Against Morales, the focus shifts more toward the footwork developed by Ban Ban, our boxing coach.”

Nogueira also addressed the perception that Prates’ development is more closely tied to Fighting Nerds than to Vale Top Team, framing the two outfits as complementary rather than competing.

“A real coach always wants what’s best for his athlete,” he said. “Fighting Nerds is a great team, and I have great friends there. Our work complements each other. We all share the same goal: to make Carlos the first Brazilian champion at 170 pounds.”

Looking beyond the interim title, Nogueira made clear that a unification fight with Makhachev remains the ultimate target — and dismissed any suggestion that pulling Makhachev from the January card was designed to generate extra study footage on Prates.

“If the idea was to pull Islam out of this fight so Prates would have to go five rounds and he could gather more footage, he’ll be disappointed, because this fight won’t make it to the third round,” Nogueira said. “Five or six months later, we want to fight Islam for the undisputed title. There’s no doubt he is one of the greats in the history of this sport.”