UFC Louisville’s Carlos Prates calls Chael Sonnen ‘dead prey’ in Anderson Silva boxing match

Carlos Prates may not be the next Anderson Silva, but UFC CEO Dana White was reminded of Silva when he saw Prates knock out Mitch Ramirez on Contender Series in 2023.

Now, Silva once again returns to action a week after Prates competes at UFC Louisville.

“It was super cool that the big boss compared me to Anderson Silva, one of my idols, but I try to leave that aside,” Prates told MMA Fighting ahead of Saturday’s card. “Anderson is Anderson, and I want to work hard so that in 10 years from now, when [White] signs someone to the UFC, he says, ‘Wow, he reminds me of Carlos Prates.’”

Prates started his MMA career after a long journey in Muay Thai and kickboxing, right around the time Silva beat Chael Sonnen in a 2012 rematch in what would be Silva’s final defense of the UFC middleweight title. A trilogy bout held under exhibition boxing rules is now set for Brazil just seven days after Prates faces Charles Radtke at UFC Louisville, with slated to box box Sonnen on June 15 in the main event of Spaten Fight Night in Sao Paulo.

“I hope that brings us both luck,” Prates said. “It will be good for him, no doubt. I hope it brings luck to me as well. I hope it’s another knockout, another bonus, another victory.”

Prates is 18-6 in MMA and has won eight straight since late 2019, with all but one ending in knockouts. He sees Radtke as the perfect style matchup for him to secure another highlight-reel victory, but thinks his idol nonetheless has an easier opponent in front of him.

“I think it’s a fight for Anderson to go in there and win, to walk over him and win in his final fight in Brazil against a longtime rival that was relevant during a period of time in his career,” Prates said. “[Sonnen] doesn’t offer him any danger. He’s dead prey.”

As for Radtke, Prates continued, “I see no better matchup than this one for me. I hope he comes in to stand and trade. I see a lot of holes in his game. He’s never fought someone at my level. A fight is a fight and I won’t underestimate him, of course, anything can happen, but he hasn’t fought a guy like me.”