Carlos Prates experienced his first defeat in the UFC following a previously perfect streak this year, dropping a decision to Ian Machado Garry in the featured bout at Saturday`s Kansas City event. In the aftermath, the Brazilian welterweight expressed his determination to return as a better fighter.
Opting not to participate in the post-fight press conference after the 25-minute contest, Prates instead shared a brief message in Portuguese via his Instagram account.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish the fight, and that wasn’t enough,” Prates wrote. “Sorry family, I’ll come back stronger.”
Prates` loss marks the first for the Fighting Nerds team in the UFC, bringing their collective record among their top four talents – including Caio Borralho, Jean Silva, and Mauricio Ruffy – to 19-1.
Teammate Jean Silva offered a spirited reaction on social media in support of Prates.
“F*ck it, we’re a family and we’ll be champions together, we’ll go through this together,” Silva posted. “And to those of you already criticizing, f*ck you all. I’m with ‘The Nightmare’ even in other lives.”
Caio Borralho, often seen as a leader for the Sao Paulo-based group, also shared a video message expressing solidarity with his teammate.
“I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the love that you guys give to our team and to everybody, to Carlos and everybody,” Borralho stated. “Carlos is good. We take this loss as men, and we know that we always grow after a hard loss like that. And I think we’re going to go back, we’re going to do what we do best, that is study this game, and we’re going to come back better.”
Borralho continued, acknowledging the opponent and emphasizing future improvement. “And I think Carlos is going to come back stronger, way better than he was today, but congrats to Ian, congrats to Chute Boxe, maximum respect for you guys. I’m just gonna pay attention to you guys that show love always for our team and to everybody in our team. We’re changing the game, we’re taking over, they’re taking over, continue. It’s just a setback and we’ll be back soon, yeah? I see you guys soon. Thank you so much, all love.”
