Islam Makhachev defends decision to duck Carlos Prates: ‘We’ll see who’s the real challenger’

Islam Makhachev has spoken out regarding his decision to pass on fighting at UFC 336, resulting in an interim welterweight fight between Carlos Prates and Michael Morales being booked for the Toronto event.

Prates vs. Morales was announced on Saturday afternoon in Abu Dhabi during UFC 333. Play-by-play announcer Jon Anik said the UFC and Makhachev had been working towards a fight at UFC 336, only for Makhachev to say January was too soon to fight. Thus, the interim fight was set up instead.

“On average, Islam fights like once a year,” a clearly annoyed Dana White said at the UFC 333 post-fight press conference. “He was slated for January and then said I don’t want to fight until after Ramadan. You can’t hold up divisions like this. You’ve got to keep moving, and this fight makes sense.”

Now Makhachev has released a video explaining his decision.

“They offered me a fight with Prates, who recently lost to [Ian Machado Garry], someone I beat,” Makhachev said. “If I beat him, Morales would already be next in line, who’s not fighting and waiting for [a title shot].”

“Just let them fight, and we will figure out who’s the real challenger,” he concluded.

Makhachev has often suggested it was the UFC that was responsible for his glacial fight schedule, but now we have a situation where he said he wanted to return before Ramadan but changed his mind after an offer was made. The move is not going over well with fans on the internet who have all sorts of theories, none of them polite, as to why Mak won’t fight.

On the plus side, Carlos Prates vs. Michael Morales is a great fight and a good start to 2027, even if it is a continuation of seemingly endless interim and vacant title fights.