Carlos Prates is still at the nucleus of a lot of discourse from his previous UFC fight earlier this month but the exciting mixed martial artist already has his next octagon assignment locked in. The surging welterweight contender will take on a former kingpin of 170 pounds in Leon Edwards when the two clash in New York at UFC 322. Madison Square Garden on November 15th is when this high stakes contest will take place.
Prates is on the heels of a highlight reel bolstering, spinning back elbow KO of Geoff Neal at UFC 319 on August 16th. The finish picked up a lot of attention online with Prates now having five wins in his last six fights with four knockout victories through that stretch.
Conversely for Edwards, he is on a two fight skid and is aiming to preserve his placement in the rankings against the hungry combatant, Prates. ‘Rocky’ dropped his 170 pound crown to Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in July 2024 and Edwards also lost via fourth round guillotine choke to Sean Brady in March.
UFC 322 will be a consequential card for the ranked welterweights in the promotion even beyond Prates vs. Edwards. The event will be headlined by Jack Della Maddalena aiming to defend his belt against former UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev who vacated his belt to move up in the pursuit of becoming a two division UFC champion.
Carlos Prates had called out Michael ‘Venom’ Page for UFC Rio
Carlos Prates had called for a quick turnaround showdown with MVP when the dust settled on his finish of Geoff Neal in Chicago with Prates wanting a clash with Michael ‘Venom’ Page on that UFC Rio card. Page, who also earned a victory at UFC 319 when he bested former UFC middleweight title challenger Jared Cannonier, seemed intrigued by the idea of a Prates fight on his rival’s home soil, October 11th in Brazil.
It would have also presumably had a lot of intrigue for Page who has complained about matchmaking politics at welterweight and how hard it is to get fights there. Alas, the matchmakers had a different vision for what’s next for both fighters with question marks now popping up about what could be next for MVP.
