After the collapse of the planned UFC Kansas City main event, Ian Machado Garry will fight Carlos Prates in the new headliner, it has been confirmed.
Former champion Jamahal Hill was due to face ex-title challenger Khalil Rountree Jr at light-heavyweight, but an injury to Hill forced the cancellation of that bout.
As a result, a new main event was needed, and UFC president Dana White revealed that contest on Tuesday (1 April).
The new headliner pits Machado Garry against Prates in a surprising welterweight match-up, as the Irishman risks his ranking against the latter.
Machado Garry will enter the T-Mobile Center as the division’s No 7-ranked fighter, while Prates is down at No 13.
Furthermore, Machado Garry is stepping up on short notice for the second fight in a row, having fought Shavkat Rakhmonov on three weeks’ notice in December.
The Irishman, 27, lost a narrow decision in that fight, which was deemed a No 1 contender’s bout, as Machado Garry replaced injured champion Belal Muhammad, who was due to defend his belt against Rakhmonov.
In a strange turn of events, however, Rakhmonov is now injured and unable to challenge Muhammad, meaning Jack Della Maddalena gets a title shot in May. Machado Garry recently said he was “livid” that he won’t be in the next title fight, despite his loss to Rakhmonov.
That makes his decision to face lower-ranked Prates even more surprising. While Prates, 31, is the older fighter, he is seen as a rising threat in the division, having gone 4-0 since debuting in the UFC last February – winning all of those fights by knockout to extend his overall win streak to 11.
Meanwhile, Machado Garry’s defeat by Rakhmonov was the first of his professional career. Prior to that bout, which Machado Garry nearly came from behind to win, he was 8-0 in the UFC since his 2021 debut.
Prates’s overall record stands at 21-6, while Machado Garry’s is 15-1.