Carlos Prates is choosing not to engage in a war of words online with Ian Machado Garry as they approach their main event fight at UFC Kansas City on April 26. However, he is still responding to Garry`s insults.
Garry used social media to mock Prates about a previous MMA defeat in China where Prates stopped fighting mid-bout. Garry labeled Prates a “quitter,” questioning his “true fighting spirit.”
“We anticipated this kind of behavior,” Prates commented about Garry’s verbal attacks. “It`s typical for him. He probably has a lot of spare time. I don’t, to be honest. I spend my time training, working on my things, doing interviews, and concentrating on the fight. But this is all part of the game. He wants to promote the fight, gain more attention, and create hype. I think it`s important and part of the business, as I mentioned in my video response. I find it interesting.”
Prates has earned $50,000 bonuses for each of his four UFC knockouts in 2024 against Trevin Giles, Charles Radtke, Jingliang Li, and Neil Magny. He believes Garry will ultimately thank him after their main event fight.
“We`ll see after the fight,” Prates stated. “We have nine days until the fight, nine days until the cage door closes and the talking stops. We`ll handle it as we should. And I assure you, he`ll be thanking me internally. Deep down, he knows I accepted this fight. I gave him the main event opportunity.”
“He’s been in the UFC for four years, if I remember correctly, and has never headlined a card,” Prates added. “He’s only earned one bonus, poor guy. And now he has the chance to be in the main event, a chance to earn more money. Firstly, he took this fight on short notice likely because they offered him a significant amount of money. And secondly, it’s a main event. After this fight, even if he gets defeated, he’ll thank me for giving him the chance to make good money.”
Prates is always aiming for knockouts in the cage but is not taking Garry’s words personally to fuel extra aggression.
“I don’t want to beat him more because of his words; it doesn’t bother me,” Prates said. “I want to go in there and win as I always do, you know? I’m not the type of guy who thinks, ‘Oh, I need to hurt this guy.’ No, man. He has his own life to live after this. This is business, it’s about money, you know? I’m being paid to go there and win, but I want to win in a way that I prefer, a way that brings more money, a way that earns me a bonus, that’s all.”
Regarding the MMA fight Garry mentioned, Prates explained that he was not in optimal condition due to insufficient training.
“I was in very bad shape,” Prates explained. “I was in China for a month, had two kickboxing matches, and then went into an MMA fight. I had also taken a hard eye poke previously. I wasn’t able to fight properly. I was in China for a month, not training properly, freezing cold, cutting weight and not eating because I couldn’t train. But that’s how it is. It’s part of the job. It happens. On the 26th, it will be very different from what he saw in that video.”
