Dana White Reveals Islam Makhachev Backed Out of Carlos Prates Bout Despite Verbal Agreement
Dana White has revealed what happened behind the scenes before the UFC booked Carlos Prates vs. Michael Morales.
Carlos Prates vs. Michael Morales will serve as the UFC 336 co-headliner, where the interim welterweight strap will be up for grabs. The winner of this contest will later meet undisputed 170-pound champion Islam Makhachev in a title unification bout.
However, the promotion originally did not want to make an interim title fight. Instead, Makhachev was supposed to defend his strap against Prates.
What Forced The Change?
According to UFC CEO Dana White, Islam Makhachev had verbally agreed to fight Carlos Prates. However, later the P4P king changed his mind and decided to return after Ramadan 2027 to fight the soon-to-be minted interim titleholder. White said to MMA Junkie:
“Yeah, it was verbally agreed to . Whenever I told you ."
The UFC head honcho added that although he does not expect his champions to fight 3 times a year, fighting at least twice would be good for the company and the division.
“I think when you get to a position where he’s at and what he’s accomplished, who knows what he’s thinking or what he wants to do next? But, obviously, I like when guys fight a lot. Being the champ, I don’t really expect you to fight three times a year, but twice would be nice. What you start to do is back up the division, because lots of guys would like a shot at the title."
Check out Dana White's comments below:
Prates is not happy with the Morales fight. The Brazilian has done enough to earn a shot at the undisputed title, but now he has to first pass the Morales test and then dethrone Islam Makhachev to become the reigning 170-pound UFC champion. Double the work just because the two-division UFC champ decided to delay.
What Islam Makhachev Said
Islam Makhachev has said that since his next fight is one of the last bouts of his career, he wants to fight the best. Also, the Dagestani wrestling maestro believes that since Prates lost to Ian Machado Garry, whom Makhachev beat at UFC 330 most recently, "The Nightmare" must now defeat undefeated contender Morales before challenging him.
Check out Islam Makhachev's comments below:
