Colby Covington believes UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev is a bad matchup for Carlos Prates.
Makhachev (29-1 MMA, 18-1 UFC) is expected to defend his belt against Prates (24-7 MMA, 7-1 UFC), who's coming off a dominant finish of ex-champ Jack Della Maddalena
in May. While Prates' precise striking and power has proven to be a problem, Covington said the hole in his grappling will be easily exposed by Makhachev."Nah, no chance, bro," Covington said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "Carlos has nothing for him. He's just a straight striker. That's going to be the easiest fight of Makhachev's career. He's going to take him down and submit him. I think he takes him down and submits him with like a kimura or a head-and-arm choke."
When asked about
undefeated top contender Michael Morales (19-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), Covington wasn't as sure.
"Michael Morales, we've got to see how his takedown defense is," Covington continued. "We haven't seen him in any big fights, in high-level five-round fights. So, we don't know what to expect from him. We know Carlos can go five rounds. He does get a little tired. It kind of attributes to having a terrible habit, smoking cigarettes. He needs to quit that if he ever wants to be a legitimate champion. But I don't know with Morales. I think he's still unproven, and there's still a lot to be seen with that guy."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Colby Covington: Carlos Prates 'easiest fight' of Islam Makhachev's career
