Carlos Prates is already trying to shove his way into the next UFC welterweight title conversation, and he picked a very loud landing spot for it. The Brazilian knockout artist pointed at Makhachev, New York City, and UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden, which is a neat little way to keep your name warm while the champion is still enjoying the belt shine.
The pitch is simple enough. Prates wants Makhachev on November 14, the same date attached to the UFC’s return to New York. That is not exactly whispering in the rankings room. That is kicking the door open, dropping a cigarette on the carpet, and asking where the champion is sitting.
Makhachev is still fresh off the kind of welterweight run that makes everyone in the division suddenly check their phone battery. He beat Jack Della Maddalena to grab UFC gold at 170 pounds, then got through Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330, which left the rest of the division arguing over who gets the next look while Dana White warned Garry may not get that Makhachev chance again.
Prates Wants The Big Apple Smoke
The social post that kicked this round of chatter loose framed the ask plainly, with Prates aiming his shot at Makhachev and the New York card. Prates also tagged the champion and added “#andnew”, because subtlety left the building sometime around the second knockout on his highlight reel.
Carlos Prates wants to fight Islam Makhachev at UFC 334 in New York City on November 14 👀 pic.twitter.com/h5i3zkVDuQ
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) August 24, 2026
Prates has been hanging around the front of this conversation for a reason. He has the kind of finishing threat that makes matchmakers grin and defensive coaches lose sleep, and his name has been connected to the Makhachev picture since the immediate UFC 330 fallout. A title shot is never just about who asks loudest, but in this sport, a clean callout with a date and arena attached can move the room.
The trickier part is the queue. Makhachev’s jump to welterweight created a fresh traffic jam, and UFC brass still has to decide whether the next challenger should be the hottest finisher, the highest-ranked available contender, or the cleanest business play. Prates is clearly trying to be all three at once.
If UFC 334 is the target, the clock is already moving. New York title fights do not stay quiet for long, and Prates just made sure his name is sitting in the middle of the noise. Whether that turns into a signed bout or just another rankings argument, the welterweight division has another live wire to deal with after Prates shut down the Michael Morales ducking talk and kept calling for bigger smoke.
