Carlos Prates’s strategy to beat UFC weight: ‘Better keep the way it is’

Since the debut in 2024, Carlos Prates became one of the most irreverent fighters in the UFC and earned four bonuses in a row in the first four fights after signing a contract, the result of the rise through the Contender Series.

The defeat suffered in April 2025 to Ian Garry Machadohis first in Ultimate. however, led Fighting Nerds to make a reflection on his posture at the time of combat.

Before climbing the octagon to face Geoff Neal no card principal do UFC 319this Saturday (16). However, in Chicago (USA), the Brazilian spoke exclusively with the ESPN And he told all the details of his preparation for combat.

Prates – That never hid to be carlos prates’s strategy beat ufc a smoker – He even revealed how unusual the cigarette is his “ally” on the eve of his struggles. For example, assisting him in the weight cut before climbing the scale for weighing.

“I want to stop (smoking), but your stop will be ‘blurry’. However, With marked fight. I get more anxious, I want to eat like a crazy and can’t, we have to hit the weight. It’s better to keep the way it is,” he joked.

‘I was poorly used to – Carlos prates's strategy beat ufc

For the combat at UFC 319. Prates revealed that, beyond the dedication in training, also made a reflection on his posture in the octagon. Accustomed to showing his struggles. the Brazilian admitted that this will not be possible and that the bonuses won by performance made him “badly used to”.

“I think we end up evolving a lot with carlos prates’s strategy beat ufc the defeat, and it happened to me. It moved me a lot (the defeat for Ian Garry), but positively. I saw how much I have to evolve. While we are winning, winning and winning, in a team that wins not moving. I have lost, and now I think I’m a much more complete fighter,” he said.

“I trained all the areas. but I not only trained, I learned that it is sometimes important to forget a little of entertainment, the bonus, and focus on winning the fight,” he continued.

“It was the same bonuses. I won the first. the second, the third, the room, I was poorly used and just wanted to win bonuses (laughs). And at the level I am. sometimes you will not be able to perfomar so well, the level of competitiveness is very high. Sometimes it is important to forget a little of it and focus on winning,” carlos prates’s strategy beat ufc he said.