Carlos Prates believes that a win in Perth will earn him a welterweight title shot in the near future.
While Prates believes Ian Machado Garry is next for Islam Makhachev, he’s eyeing a clash with the winner if he gets his hand raised on Saturday night.
If both fighters come out on top in their upcoming bouts, there could be growing demand to see Topuria take on Makhachev.
Before his fight on May 2, Prates spoke about this possibility and mentioned that he believes he has what it takes to move up to lightweight if the opportunity arises.
Carlos Prates believes he could make the jump to lightweight, even if he’s not looking to move
If Prates makes it two straight wins over former champions this weekend, he’s confident a title shot will follow. However, that path could be influenced by Ilia Topuria’s future plans.
Prates touched on this in a recent interview, joking that if ‘El Matador’ moves up in weight, he’d do the opposite and aim for lightweight gold instead.
‘The Nightmare’ also mentioned that moving down wouldn’t be out of the question for him.
“I can do 155,” he told MMA Fighting. “Of course I can. Normally I’m like 85 kilos, 84, so I can do lightweight. But, I’m kidding. I don’t want to do too much dieting any more but yeah, let’s see.”
It was clear during the face-offs between Prates and Jack Della Maddalena that the Brazilian holds a noticeable height advantage going into Saturday night.
Even so, Prates expects ‘JDM’ will have the upper hand in terms of strength once they step into the Octagon.
The Brazilian said his past experience at featherweight and lightweight means being taller than opponents is nothing new for him.
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