Prates resumes training and targets UFC welterweight title shot after back-to-back knockouts

Carlos Prates is back in the gym and making his ambitions clear. Six weeks after stopping Jack Della Maddalena by technical knockout, the Brazilian welterweight posted training footage on Instagram on Sunday alongside a message that left little doubt about where he sees himself heading: “Time to start writing the chapters of the next season, which will be called: ‘UFC Champion’.”

The timing is deliberate. Islam Makhachev and Ian Garry have been confirmed as the UFC 330 headliners in a welterweight title fight, and the promotion is expected to announce a No. 1 contender bout in the division shortly. Prates has positioned himself as the frontrunner for that opportunity.

The case is not hard to make. Prates has now knocked out two former welterweight champions back-to-back, finishing Leon Edwards before dispatching Della Maddalena. Few fighters in the division can point to a comparable recent run, and Prates has been vocal about believing those results earn him the next title shot.

However, he has also acknowledged that the UFC may have other plans. In a recent interview, Prates said a fight with Michael Morales would make sense if the organisation opted for a different contender matchup. Morales, from Ecuador, enters that conversation with an unblemished 19-0 record and momentum of his own after a dominant knockout of Sean Brady.

With UFC 330 now anchored by the title fight, the promotion’s next move in the welterweight division is being watched closely. Prates, for his part, is not waiting around — he is already in camp.