Carlos Prates racked up another KO victory against Neil Magny in the main event of UFC Fight Night 247 this past weekend in Las Vegas and now he’s eyeing up more high-profile fights against top 10 ranked welterweight next.
“Of course I would like to fight against Jack Della Maddalena,” Prates said on the ESPN post-fight show. “But I heard something like, the UFC wants to do Kamaru Usman against him. But after that I heard about also, Kamaru Usman would fight against Shavkat [Rakhmonov]. So I don’t know, but if he fights Shavkat, probably he’s not going to fight in February. So I’m here, if Jack Maddalena agrees, I would be really happy to come to Australia. Brazilian guy come to enemy’s camp and fight there. There’s my daughter also because she’s living there. And I really like that country…
Also I think another good option would be Geoff Neal.”
The 31-year-old Prates only joined the UFC from the Contender Series last year, but has since gone to win four fights in a row via knockout in 2024, stopping Trevin Giles, Charlie Radtke and Li Jingliang prior to his finish of Magny on Saturday night, making him one of the most exciting newcomers of the years in the Octagon.
Given that he was unranked ahead of his fight with Magny, Prates is probably right that a fight with the No.4 ranked and in-demand Maddalena might be out of reach for him next, but going up against the No.10 ranked Neal certainly seems like a possibility the UFC might want to consider.
