Carlos Prates has hinted at fighting Leon Edwards when the UFC returns to London in March.
Edwards revealed in November that he would be headlining the London card, which is scheduled to take place on March 22 at the O2 Arena.
@thenightmare_170 on InstagramPrates teased a fight with Edwards by sharing an edit on his Instagram[/caption]
Molly McCann and Tom Aspinall’s sparring partner Mick Parkin are both confirmed to fight on the card in 2025.
Edwards, 33, is the No.1 ranked welterweight but hasn’t fought in Dana White’s promotion since losing his title to the current champion, Belal Muhammad, at UFC Manchester in July.
Prates is undefeated in the UFC, and although all five of his UFC bouts have come by way of knockout, he is ranked 13th in the same division.
The Brazilian posted an Instagram story on Friday, sharing an edit of him fighting Edwards with a caption reading ‘soon’.
He is 2-6 in professional MMA, having previously represented the ONE promotion.
Since his UFC debut in February 2024, ‘The Nightmare’ has gone on to secure four performance bonuses, meaning UFC President Dana White paid him an extra $50,000 for each fight.
Reports suggested at the beginning of December that the 31-year-old was offered to Shavkat Rakhmonov as a replacement for welterweight champion Belal Muhammad at UFC 310.
That never came into fruition, of course, and Rakhmonov instead fought, and beat, Ian Machado Garry to confirm his status as next in line for the welterweight title.
Edwards became the proud owner of UFC’s 170-pound strap for the first time after famously knocking out Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 in August 2022.
He won the rematch seven months later, winning the five-round bout via decision before beating Colby Covington by the same method of victory at UFC 296.
Edwards lost his title via unanimous-decision at Manchester’s Co-op Live arena to Muhammad, much to the disappointment of the home crowd who were forced to stay awake until after 5am to watch the bout.
Prates made the headlines in November when he left Jon Jones impressed following a stunning KO of Neil Magny.
The hot UFC welterweight prospect was looking to take out his most experienced rival in Magny on the UFC Vegas 100 fight night bill.
UFC heavyweight champion Jones was cageside to watch the fight, and turned immediately to give compliments to those around him about Prates after he had clipped Magny with a left hand.
The smashing victory over the veteran not only kept his winning streak intact but it boosted Prated into the UFC’s welterweight rankings for the first time.
There has been no official announcement yet from White as to who Edwards will fight at UFC London.
But the UFC CEO has previously suggested that he has big plans for ‘The Nightmare’, meaning a super fight with Edwards wouldn’t be much of a surprise, regardless of his far inferior ranking.