carlos-prates-getty-2.jpg
Getty Images

Welterweight Carlos Prates can smoke another post-fight victory cigarette after his biggest career victory at Saturday night's UFC 322. Prates survived a rough first round against former welterweight champion Leon Edwards before scoring a knockout in the second round and throwing his hat in the ring as a future title challenger at 170 pounds.

Edwards found good success in the opening frame by using wrestling and grappling to neutralize the explosive striking of Prates. After scoring a takedown, Edwards was able to threaten by fishing for a rear-naked choke before the round came to a close.

Prates, who is the rare high-level fighter with an admitted smoking habit, was able to survive the danger in the first round, and back on the feet, he was able to make Edwards pay.

A hard straight left hand from Prates in the second round sent Edwards spilling to the canvas. One follow-up shot on the ground later, the referee was forced to call a halt to the bout at the 1:28 mark of Round 2.

"You guys pay tickets to watch violence, to watch blood, not boring fights," Prates said after the fight.

The win advanced Prates to 23-7 as a professional and 6-1 in the UFC. All six of Prates' UFC victories have come by knockout. The win is also Prates' second consecutive victory after a decision loss to Ian Machado Garry in April.

Prates now has his sights set on the UFC 322 main event between welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena and former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

"I trained so much for the fight," Prates said. "Leon Edwards is a former champ. I'm going to enjoy my holidays and maybe in one hour I'm going to be in here to do a face-off with the champ."

Edwards won the welterweight championship with a shocking last-minute knockout of Kamaru Usman in August 2022. After defending the title in a rematch and then defeating Colby Covington for his second defense of the title, Edwards lost the belt to Belal Muhammad in July 2024. He then dropped a fight with Sean Brady by fourth-round submission. The loss to Prates makes it three straight losses for Edwards.