Prates' Manager Says the UFC Is Upset With Makhachev

Carlos Prates' manager says the UFC is annoyed with Islam Makhachev. According to Lucas Lutkus, the champion changed his plan on a fight that had been agreed.

The UFC's public position

White said the interim title fight exists because the welterweight division cannot wait on Makhachev. Makhachev said in a statement that his next fight will be among his last. White later said he believes the champion wants a big payday.

An interim title is the usual way to keep a weight class moving when the champion does not fight on schedule. Here Prates will meet Michael Morales for the interim welterweight title in Toronto on Jan. 30. That card is the promotion's first major numbered event of 2027.

Lutkus' account

Lutkus manages Prates and told MMA Fighting that the matchmakers were not happy about Makhachev backing out of a title defense. He rejected the champion's talk of too many contenders. In his telling, Makhachev changed his tune from what he said right after the fight in Philadelphia. Makhachev always said Prates deserved the fight and that Morales was not fighting.

"Something made him change his mind," Lutkus said. He added that, as far as he knows, Makhachev has not explained it to the UFC. Lutkus said he is not naive enough to think the champion is afraid of Prates.

Lutkus also described the UFC's reaction. The promotion, he said, was told the whole time that Makhachev would do this, and then with three months to go he backed out of what was agreed.

What Makhachev had said before

The expectation was that Makhachev would defend the welterweight belt before Ramadan starts. He told reporters it was his plan, and that he preferred to fight Prates over Morales. Negotiations for the UFC 336 main event then went another way.

Source: BJPenn.com