Outside Source
In addition to the main event clash between champion Jack Della Madalena and Islam Makhachev, UFC 322 will have two of the three fights that might decide the next title challenger: Sean Brady vs. Michael Morales and Carlos Prates vs. Leon Edwards. The other one — Belal Muhammad vs. Ian Garry — will be contested the following week at UFC Qatar.
In a video interview with Brazilian journalist Laerte Viana last Friday, Carlos Prates analyzed his upcoming fight against Edwards and explained why he believes that he can “cut the title contender line.” According to Prates, everything will depend on the results of the other “semifinals.”
“If I get an impressive win over Edwards, who is a former champion; Belal beats Garry in a boring decision and Morales vs. Brady also goes to the judges’ decision, I believe I can get the title shot right away. But those results don’t depend on me. I trained hard to do my part, which is to get an impressive win over Edwards,” Prates said.
Edwards Beat My Idol
Recognizing his “above the normal anxiety” to fight at Madison Square Garden, The Fighting Nerd revealed how he plans to beat Edwards.
“My mentality is to always hurt my opponents during the whole fight to make them break mentally and give up, something I brought from my years of experience fighting muay thai in Thailand,” Prates said. “And Edwards already showed that he can be mentally broken in the middle of some of his fights, and that’s how I see myself beating him via TKO.”
Prates is well aware of the challenge hw faces, particulary after watching Edwards dispatch Kamaru Usman.
“I trained hard for his best version, the one who beat my idol Kamaru Usman, who is in my opinion the GOAT of the welterweight division,” Prates said. “Actually I like the way Usman fights more than Georges St. Pierre. Of course, Edwards lost the whole [first] fight but that’s what makes him so dangerous. He does the minimum to win. He doesn’t care about doing exciting fights, the biggest proof of that is that most of his wins are via decision. But I trained really hard to not allow that and get another impressive win.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
Help support MMACrazies.com when you shop Amazon by starting your online Amazon shopping at MMACrazies.com/recommends/amazon. You are not charged extra, but we receive a small and very helpful commission on everything you purchase. Thanks for thinking of us every time you shop at Amazon.
