UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev says his next fight will be one of the last of his career, and he wants it to come against the winner of Carlos Prates vs. Michael Morales.
The 35-year-old Russian posted the comment on X on Friday, days after the UFC booked Prates and Morales for an interim welterweight title fight at UFC 336 on Jan. 30 in Toronto.
Makhachev had been slated to defend his belt on that card but told the promotion he would not be ready.
In the post, he claimed that he wanted to face the best and that would be the winner of Prates vs. Morales:
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“My next fight is one of the last in my career. They say Prates is too dangerous for me and Morales is too good for me. So I want to face the best of them and prove to the world once again who is the best in world.”
Check out Islam Makhachev‘s comments below:
A fan then quizzed Makhachev about when the UFC welterweight champion would return, and the champion responded by saying that he would be back as soon as the “real contender” was presented:
“As soon as we find out who the real contender is, we’ll be right back!!!”
Islam Makhachev’s dominance: 17 straight wins and two UFC belts
The streak Islam Makhachev is protecting is the longest in UFC history. The Russian is 29-1 overall and 18-1 in the UFC, unbeaten since 2015. His 17th straight win came against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 in August, a unanimous decision that took him past the legendary Anderson Silva’s 16-fight run from 2006 to 2013.
Before that, he submitted Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title in 2022 and made four defenses, including two over Alexander Volkanovski, a divisional record. He then vacated the belt and out-grappled Jack Della Maddalena 50-45 on all three scorecards at UFC 322 in November 2025, becoming the 11th two-division champion in UFC history.
While Makhachev waits for a challenger, the UFC has decided to create one without him. The interim title fight was announced during the UFC 333 broadcast in Abu Dhabi. Jon Anik said the promotion had held the January date for Makhachev before he told them he would not be ready, pushing his return to between May and July.
Carlos Prates, who has knocked out Geoff Neal, Leon Edwards and Jack Della Maddalena in consecutive wins, fired back on Instagram. In a post translated from Portuguese, he said:
“On January 30, I’m going to knock Michael Morales out, and then I’ll come back to retire you, you coward!”
Morales, 27, is 19-0 as a professional and 7-0 in the UFC. The winner is expected to meet Makhachev in a unification bout in the second quarter of 2027, after Ramadan.
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
