Carlos Prates isn't letting this one go quietly. The number two ranked welterweight says Islam Makhachev flat out avoided fighting him, and he's not interested in diplomacy about it. According to Yahoo Sports and HEAVY, the UFC tried to put together Prates versus Makhachev for the undisputed welterweight title in the main event of UFC 336, but Makhachev turned the fight down. The promotion pivoted and booked Prates against Michael Morales instead, according to those reports. Prates didn't soften his language. "He chickened out... UFC was pissed," he said. 'If you don't want to fight, vacate your belt. Just stay quiet, fake an injury or something. It would honestly be less bad if you faked an injury and pretended you were hurt.' He kept going in a separate interview, adding, 'If you're not hurt, then fight man. Your contract is for this. This is your job. If you don't want to fight, vacate your belt and that's it. You're unsure whether you're going to fight in January or not? Then don't go around talking about it, man.'

The comments are getting plenty of attention on r/MMA, where fans are hashing out whether Prates has a legitimate gripe or is just making noise before his own fight. That fight is very real. Prates enters off a win over Jack Della Maddalena by elbows in the third round, and his Elo of 1620 sits just a few points behind Makhachev's 1629.