Ian Machado Garry warns Carlos Prates ahead of new UFC Kansas City main event: ‘This is my world’

Ian Machado Garry’s confidence is as high as ever after booking a matchup with one of the welterweight division’s hottest fighters.

On Tuesday, the UFC announced Garry is set to fight Carlos Prates in a welterweight bout that serves as the new headliner for UFC Kansas City on April 26. The bout replaces a light heavyweight contest between top contenders Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree Jr., which has been pulled from the card for undisclosed reasons.

Garry is currently No. 6 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. Prates is unranked, but has generated enormous buzz coming off of an incredible UFC debut campaign in 2024 that saw him go 4-0 with four knockouts, all of which won Performance of the Night bonuses.

Following the bout announcement, Garry took to Instagram to issue a warning to Prates.

“I’m excited,” Garry said. “Why? The UFC go, ‘Ah, we need someone. Who do we need? Who do we call?’ You call me. Why? Because I’m a real fighter who wants to fight the best in the world. I’m going to show everybody how good I am. Carlos Prates is awesome, but this is my world. I love to fight. There’s nothing more I love in this world than fighting.

“Kansas City, let’s go. Ireland, get your tickets, get your flights. Brazil, get your tickets, get your flights.”

Like Prates, Garry began his UFC career on an impressive undefeated streak, winning his first eight fights with the promotion before running into the unbeaten Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 this past December. Rakhmonov defeated Garry by unanimous decision, but the highly competitive three-round bout did little to hurt Garry’s reputation and he now seeks to slow the Prates hype train.

Prates, a member of the prolific Fighting Nerds team alongside the likes of Caio Borralho, Mauricio Ruffy, and Jean Silva, has won 11 straight fights overall. In his most recent outing this past November, “The Nightmare” needed less than a round to knock out welterweight veteran Neil Magny.