Ian Machado Garry handed Carlos Prates his first UFC defeat on Saturday in Kansas City, but did not get away unscathed in the process.
Machado Garry (16-2) outclassed Prates (21-7) for the first four rounds of their five-round welterweight main event at UFC Fight Night, but found himself desperately hanging on in the fifth. Prates, a Brazilian knockout artist, hurt Garry with punches on the feet and on the ground but ultimately ran out of time for a finish.
All three judges scored the fight for Machado Garry via scores of 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47.
“I was conscious every moment,” Machado Garry said of the dicey fifth round. “I know how dangerous that man is. I wanted to be smart, nothing stupid, because that can happen in these types of fights. I appreciate he’s on a tear, but I told everyone I would outclass him, and I believe I did that.”
Despite Machado Garry’s insistence he was never in trouble, it was a tense final five minutes. A left hand bloodied his nose near the end of the fourth, and he started to repeatedly shoot takedowns in the fifth when it wasn’t going his way on the feet. Machado Garry’s fight IQ was fully on display though, as he expertly nullified Prates’ offense the majority of the bout and bought time to recover from Prates’ biggest shots late.
Ian Machado Garry outclassed Carlos Prates for much of Saturday’s fight, outlanding him 141-64 in total strikes, but had to withstand a fifth-round onslaught before winning by unanimous decision. William Purnell-Imagn Images
The 27-year-old Irishman, who took Saturday’s bout on relatively short notice, improved to 9-1 in the UFC. He was already ranked No. 7 going in, with his only loss to the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov.
“My entire goal in this game is to prove I’m one of the most game fighters ever,” Machado Garry said. “I have the fighting Irish blood; 21 days notice against Shavkat, 25 days notice against [Prates]. And in two weeks, I’m flying to Canada. I’m the official backup for the title fight [between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315].”
Somewhat lost in the drama of the final round was Machado Garry’s brilliance throughout the first four rounds. He outlanded Prates 141-64 in total strikes, according to UFC Stats. He used lateral movement and the counter jab to keep Prates guessing all night on the feet and mixed in 19 takedown attempts. He converted only four of those attempts, but the constant level changes did a lot to mitigate Prates’ offense.
Prates is one of four male fighters to emerge in recent years from The Fighting Nerds team in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Following Saturday’s result, those four — Prates, Jean Silva, Caio Borralho and Mauricio Ruffy — are a combined 18-1 in the UFC. Prates had won his previous 10 appearances via finish.
In the co-main event, veteran light heavyweight Anthony Smith (37-22) announced his retirement from mixed martial arts following a loss to Zhang Mingyang. Smith, 36, lost via TKO in the first round. The Nebraska-based Smith fought Jon Jones for the UFC championship in 2019 and was well-known in the MMA community for his heart and tenacity over the course of a pro career that began in 2008.
