Brazilian fighter Carlos Prates is quickly climbing the welterweight rankings, and he’s doing it while continuing to smoke cigarettes like a chimney.
We’ve been on the Prates train ever since footage came out of the moment he learned he’d won his second Performance of the Night bonus in the UFC. “The Nightmare” was hanging around outside the arena, smoking away — which is not something you see much from UFC fighters.
Now 4-0 with four Performance bonuses under his belt, Prates is set to fight Ian Machado Garry in the main event of UFC Kansas City on April 26th. Despite it being a bout that may launch him into the top ten, Carlos doesn’t plan on putting down the cigs.
Carlos Prates shares he’s still smoking around 10 cigarettes leading into his 5-round main event
“I’m trying to smoke a little bit less, not because I’m going to fight, but because I’m trying to get heavier and stronger.”
“I stay without drinking maybe 2 months because I… pic.twitter.com/BxvGdiVgNz
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 7, 2025
“I’m just doing what I do all the time,” he said in an interview with Ariel Helwani. “I just come to the gym, train hard, train a lot. I’m the first guy to come to the gym and the last guy to leave the gym.”
“Yeah [I still smoke],” Prates added. “No problem. Still doing five rounds, six rounds. I’m trying to smoke a little bit less, but not because I’m going to fight – because I want to smoke a little bit less.”
Prates estimated he smoked eight to ten cigarettes a day. And while he has no intention of quitting completely (the last time he did he got fat and lazy), he has cut drinking out of his busy party schedule.
“I stay without drinking maybe two months, one month and a half, because I don’t go party,” he said. “I don’t go anywhere, just training. It’s not difficult to be far away from drink, but it’s difficult to stay far away from party.”
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
